The Traveler- a Yogscast Tekkit Story
by Straightjacket Serenade
Summary: A mysterious traveler shows up on the doorstep of Blackrock castle, but who is she? Where did she come from? And most importantly, what does she want from the others? Rated T for mild violence and language.
1. I Want to Learn

"Rythian, where are you?" Zoey called from atop the fortress's wall. The Mage had a knack for knowing exactly when Zoey needed his help, and disappearing before she could find him. "Rythian, I need your help! Please come out," she called. Taking a quick survey of the land surrounding the castle, she almost missed the lone figure climbing over a hill, towards their castle. Almost.

"Rythian, there's someone coming towards the castle!" She yelled, hoping he'd believe her.

"What? Where?" He said suddenly, startling Zoey out of her skin. He had teleported behind her, and was it her imagination, or was there purple dust dissipating at his feet? She knew he had a void ring, but she couldn't get over the strange purple matter that seemed to appear when he teleported. It didn't matter, either way.

"Over there, on the hill. I don't recognize them,"

"That doesn't mean he or she isn't a threat," Rythian muttered. "Go back in the castle. If this person is friendly, I don't want to scare them off. If they aren't, I don't want to warn them we're home,". Zoey obliged, and Rythian followed suit. Together they sat on the ground level of Blackrock, waiting for the mysterious traveler to show up.

A while passed, and Rythian sighed. "I really need to get back to what I was doing. Zoey, call me if this person shows up, I'll be upstairs. Do you want me to find Teep?" he paused to ask as he ascended the stairs. Zoey shook her head. It was cute how Rythian would look out for her like he did, even if she knew she'd be fine on her own. So she sat and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And wai-

"Hello?" A sharp voice asked from the other side of the door. Definitely female, but there was a harsh edge to the voice that reminded her of Rythian when he talked about the Old World. She answered the door.

"Hello!" She greeted the figure. The girl- and she really was only a girl, no more that twenty- narrowed her eyes. She looked to be young, but she was incredibly tall.

"Is this Blackrock Stronghold? Home to a mage?"

The question was harsh, but Zoey was still determined to be nice to the stranger. "Well, the rocks are certainly black, so I would think so," she replied happily. "So who are you?"

"I came here to talk to a mage. And since you're obviously not him, I think I must be in the wrong place," The other girl spat.

"See, I think-" Zoey was cut off by the sound of Rythian from the direction of the stairs.

"Zoey, who's this?" He asked cagily.

"She hasn't told me her name yet," Zoey replied. The pair stole a glance at the girl in the doorway, who's eyes lit up at the sight of Rythian.

"You must be the mage," she said, not without a hint of awe and respect.

"That'd depend on who's asking. Why are you here?"

"I want to learn to fight. Swords and simple TNT aren't enough, I want to know more,"

Rythian guessed the rest. "So that would mean-"

"I want to study in the ways of magic," She finished curtly.

"Anyone could study magic on their own. Why are you here?"

"It isn't obvious? I want to study under someone,"

"No, why are you here? You could go to any of the other places near here. Why'd you choose mine, as opposed to the castle with the telescope?" Rythian asked.

"I could hear the machinery inside that castle from a mile away," the traveler replied disdainfully, but not without a hint of anger.

Rythian looked pleased and surprised. "So you're opposed to science?"

"Science," the girl snarled, eyes narrowing to slits and filling with rage. "Science is an abomination! It's destructive and needlessly complicated, and if the idiots at home had given up on science, maybe-" The girl broke off there, and her eyes widened with the realization that she had said something she shouldn't have.

Rythian seemed to understand, and kindness and respect filled his words. "Your reasons for disliking science are your own. I understand that. If you don't want to keep talking, you don't have to,"

The girl seemed to calm down some. "I came straight here because I've heard tales of a great mage who resides in a fortress overlooking a volcano. I've heard tales of who you are and what you can do, what you have done. I want to learn from the best, and from what people seem to think of you, I believe I came to the right place. I wish to be your apprentice," she finished, looking Rythian in the eyes. She detected something odd there, a sort of purple hue mixed in with the hazel, but she brushed it off as nothing.

Zoey felt a need to cut in there. "The thing is, you can't be his apprentice, because I'm already-"

"Apprentice? Interesting idea," Rythian mused.

Zoey was incredibly saddened by the fact that Rythian made no move to mention he already had an apprentice, and that that apprentice was listening to the conversation.

"If- and I mean if- I were to take you in, what could you do for me? What would I gain from this?" Rythian asked.

"My services, of course. Protection, fighting, building, anything I could help with,"

Rythian thought about it for a long moment. It must've only been a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity before Zoey heard Rythian decide. "Alright. I'll take you on as my apprentice. You can come with me- we still need to talk,". She watched the two walk into the stronghold. There was absolutely no explaining it, but Zoey felt the smallest twinge of jealousy.


	2. The Mage-in-Training

**Author's note! I'm really surprised that the first chapter was well received, thanks to everyone who followed or favorited or whatnot. The fact that people liked my story and want to read the rest is actually a bit scary, but hopefully it'll help motivate me to finish this thing!**

"So who exactly are you, if you don't mind my asking," Rythian said as the pair strolled down a hall.

"You can call me Terra," the girl answered. She paused to study a painting on the wall. Rythian took the opportunity to observe who he had just agreed to mentor. Grey shirt with black boots, pants and jacket. The hood was up and drooping over her forehead. Her eyes were sunken in, and looked bruised underneath. She looked like she hadn't gotten any sleep in quite a while.

Speaking of her eyes, they were smoky grey; they seemed to be swirling, changing from blue to green and back, even as he watched. They were full of interest at what she was seeing around the castle, but also closely guarded, and something else lay deeper. Something angrier, something he had caught a glimpse of when he mentioned science earlier.

"Terra. Interesting name. So why have you chosen to study magic? Why wouldn't a simple sword won't do for your purposes?" The question seemed to snap Terra back into reality away from the picture, and she turned to face Rythian.

"I've never been satisfied with just a 'simple' anything," she answered cryptically as she began to walk again. Rythian caught up and looked at her once more. Her hood had slipped down a bit, and he caught a glimpse of what lay beneath. Hair, long and flowing underneath the rest of her jacket. It seemed to all be dark brown, but he thought he could see a shock of black running through on one side of her head. More startling than that though, were her ears. They shouldn't have been visible through her hair, but the ends poked out and tapered to a point at the top. What _was_ this girl?

She must've noticed Rythian looking at her, because she jerked the hood to its correct place, covering her hair and ears. Rythian tried to pretend he hadn't seen them; she probably kept them hidden for a reason.

Terra looked back at him. "You know, you never told me your name. Or should I just keep calling you 'Mage'?"

"Rythian. My name is Rythian,"

"So, Rythian, what's with the mask? Got something you want to hide?" She asked nonchalantly, not realizing what a big deal the mask was to Rythian.

"I could ask you the same question," he said, almost defensively. She looked at him questioningly. "Your hood?" He prompted.

"I choose to wear this for reasons of my own, I'd appreciate if you wouldn't ask," Terra snapped, with a hint of something Rythian couldn't place in her voice. Sorrow? Longing? Guilt?

"And that would be my answer as well," he said, giving her a pointed look. They continued on down the halls, Rythian pointing out important rooms as they passed. Eventually they doubled back and went upstairs.

"There's my room, Zoey's room, and I suppose you'll be sleeping here," Rythian showed Terra each in turn before he stopped in front of a small chamber. There wasn't much inside; a chest, a bed, and some bookshelves adorned the walls.

"I may not actually be sleeping here every night," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"I have . . . Other duties I must attend to, so I'll most likely stay here a few days, then leave for a few, and come back every so often. If you don't mind, of course," She added hastily.

"Not at all. Let me know when you leave and return, and I think this will work out perfectly fine. Now, do you have anything with you?"

"Not much. I was in a bit of a hurry to get here, this is all I was able to bring," Terra showed Rythian some steak, a few stacks of cobblestone, and a mostly broken iron sword.

"Wow, um, o- okay," Rythian was obviously startled that the girl had so little, but he tried his best not to show it. "Come with me downstairs, we can at least condense you some basic things, diamond tools and such," he said, waving Terra with him back downstairs.

"_Diamond_ tools? Rythian, are you sure?"

"You don't know much about magic, do you?" He asked, but kindly, gently. Terra shook her head. "Go look in the condenser on the far right," he told her when they had gotten to a room on the bottom floor.

"Right. The condenser. That's . . . Um . . ." Terra looked lost among the chests in the room.

"The blue one against that wall over there," he directed her. He was trying his hardest to stay calm and helpful, but she knew so _little_! This would be like teaching Zoey all over again.

"Right, right. I knew that," she said, rushing to the chest. She looked inside per Rythian's prompts, and her eyes went impossibly wide at the sight of dozens upon dozens of stacks of diamonds. "Rythian . . . Where did all this come from?" She whispered in awe. He couldn't help but smile, though it couldn't be seen through the mask.

"Magic," was his simple answer. It was obvious she had never had much training in magic before, and she must not've been very wealthy back wherever she came from. "Grab a few and use the bench over there to make yourself some tools," he said. "I'm going to make you a surprise,"

Terra grinned. Rythian had only known her less than a few hours, but he had already taken a liking to her. Not in the same way he liked Zoey, of course, but he was definitely glad this new girl had come here as opposed to Sipsco or Lalna's house.

Rythian searched through the chests until he found a piece of dark matter. He condensed it to make four more, using up half the diamonds in the process. No matter- diamonds weren't of any value at this point anyways. He was able to scrape together almost everything he needed, but of course, there were no feathers to be found. He groaned; Zoey must've taken them and not condensed any.

"Terra, I need to go and find something really quick, will you be alright by yourself? I'll only be gone a moment,"

"Rythian, I'll be _fine_,"

He gave a lopsided smile. "Of course you will," she reminded him so much of Zoey when he had first found her. He went to go find Zoey and the feathers, leaving Terra to study her new diamond sword.


	3. What Other Apprentice?

Zoey was tending to her garden, thinking to herself. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about the new girl. Rythian seemed to take an immediate liking to her, something that Zoey thought was impossible. And what was all that business about her being Rythian's new apprentice? Rythian couldn't have _two_ apprentices- he could barely handle Zoey as it was.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by someone tapping on her shoulder. She jumped a mile, and turned to find Rythian standing behind her. She grinned sheepishly.

"Zoey, did you take all the feathers from the chests again?"

"Rythian, who is that girl?" Zoey asked, completely ignoring the first question.

"What?" Rythian was startled- he wasn't prepared for his own line of questions. "You mean Terra? I took her on as my apprentice,"

"Yes, but _why_?" Zoey asked impatiently. "It's not like you don't already _have_ an apprentice,"

Rythian could see what was happening here. "Zoey, please don't be jealous. Something told me it was the right thing to do to take in Terra. Besides, I don't consider you my apprentice anymore,"

Zoey's heart stopped, and her blood ran cold with those words. "You-you don't?"

"No. You're so much more than that, you've learned too much to only be an apprentice. You just need a bit of help with... _Control_, is all,"

Zoey felt herself go numb with relief, and she let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "Thanks, Rythian. I just don't know about her though. I don't think we should trust her,"

Rythian laughed. "_You_, the nice, friendly, sweet girl who loves everyone? You don't trust her?"

Zoey blushed from the compliments thrown her way, but convinced herself they didn't mean anything before continuing. "I don't know. She's definitely not from around here, so why is she here, in Yog's Knot?" She asked, referring to their village. She sighed. 'Actually, you're right, I'm probably over reacting. Just be careful, alright Rythian? And here are the feathers," she added, handing them over.

"I'll be perfectly _fine_. You know the girl can barely use magic? You should've seen her face when she opened the condenser full of diamonds!" He chuckled, then sighed. "But if you want me to be careful, I guess I'll watch her a bit more closely,"

"Thanks, Rythian," Zoey smiled and returned to her garden. Meanwhile, Rythian flew back to the castle. The sight that greeted him upon return made him literally laugh.

"Nice, uh, lizard, good lizard, you can put down the bow now," Terra was standing against a wall, trying to calm down a growling Teep. Teep had his bow raised and the string drawn back, probably thinking that Terra was an intruder. Terra noticed Rythian laughing in the doorway, and glared at him. "Instead of laughing, you want to call off your attack lizard?"

"Teep, she's a friend. It's alright," the dinosaur calmed down and lowered the bow. "Teep, this is Terra. She'll be staying here sometimes. Terra, this is Teep. He's a dinosaur, not a lizard, and he's sort of our guard here,"

"Tell me Rythian, where did you get a _dinosaur_, and how did you teach it to use a fucking _bow_?"

"Zoey and I found him wandering around our land. He seemed useful with a bow, so I let him stay," Rythian shrugged as the dinosaur left, leaving Rythian alone with Terra. "Why didn't you try to fight him off? You _do_ have diamond tools,"

"Rythian, I'm a very analytical person, I don't dive head first into battle. When I saw that thin- sorry, when I saw _Teep_, I immediately registered that he's twice my size, most likely strong than me, was holding a long-range weapon, and has a longer reach with his neck than I do with my sword. Even if he _wouldn't_ have shot me down before I could reach him, I would have been able to get in maybe one good blow with my sword before he overpowered me. If I would have been close enough to hit him, he'd have been _more_ than close enough to bite me,"

Rythian was impressed. Not many people would approach a battle with such a computerized analyzation, and he respected the way she could think like that. "Right," he said, using his philosopher's stone to create a flying ring. "On that note, I believe it's time for me to test your fighting skills. And before we do that, you'll need _this_," he told her, handing over the flying ring. "And _this_ to power it," he gave her a leftover Klein star from one of the chests.

"What are they?" Terra asked, putting the star in her pocket and slipping the ring on her finger.

"I'll show you," Rythian grinned, and hovered a few feet in the air.

Terra's eyes shot open. "A _flying_ ring? Rythian, are you sure?"

"Of course. Now don't lose that," he continued, but his warnings fell on deaf ears. Terra had already figured out the basics of the ring, and was at the ceiling.

"Thanks, Rythian!"

"Terra, come down from there! I need to test your fighting abilities, lets go," he waved her to the door, and she glided down to leave with him.


	4. A Poor Choice

Minutes later, they were in front of an empty room with an iron door. There were iron bars serving as a window looking into the room from the hallway, but the only light came from some sparse torches scattered though the room.

"After you," Rythian waved Terra in after he had used a lever to open the door. She took two steps inside, and the door slammed shut behind her.

"What the hell is this?" She cried when she saw Rythian had locked her inside.

"I can't very well test your fighting abilities if you're able to _run away_, now can I? We'll start off simple- say, zombies?" He said, as some panels slid up in the walls, and dispensers spawned several zombies in the room.

Terra pulled out her sword and twirled it in her hands, as if it were second nature. She dived straight into the middle of the horde, lopping off heads and arms as she went. Within moments, the zombies were down.

"Alright, skeletons next," he said as an arrow whizzed past Terra's head. Given, skeletons are harder to kill, but she made short work of them anyways.

"I thought you were _testing_ me! Give me something tougher!" She taunted through the bars. A few creepers spawned on the other side of the room. Difficult, but she could make it work. Purposefully setting off one killed three others, and the two that were left were dispatched quickly.

Rythian couldn't help but admire the way Terra handled her blade. It was almost as if the sword had become an extension of her arm, and she treated it with just as much care. No matter what he gave her, or in what combination, she was able to cope and come out without a scratch. He was hesitant to push the last button on the remote, however. No matter what he saw now, he wasn't sure if Terra was completely ready for it.

"Rythian, come on! I _thought_ this would be challenging. What, are you scared I'll kill all your little monsters?"

Terra was completely ready for it. He sighed, and pushed the button, spawning a single monster into the room. His skin began to itch, and he could feel his head throbbing. He almost looked away, but he had to make sure Terra could handle this. He watched her reaction to the final mob.

She gasped when she realized what it was, and looked down at the floor. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to steel herself. Rythian watched intently, making sure to keep his eyes on her alone, not wanting to disrupt the test.

Meanwhile, Terra was advancing on the enderman. Only when she was next to it did Rythian realize how _tall_ she truly was- she came up to just below its head. Terra sliced at its legs, injuring one badly. It teleported away and came behind her, but she was ready. Bringing her sword over her head in a high arc, she brought it down on the enderman's shoulder, injuring it more. It fell over, still alive, and Terra did what Rythian had never seen before.

She used the blade to cut off the enderman's head, bringing it a quick end. Rythian was surprised by a such show of mercy. He opened the door and she walked out, clearly shaken by the experience with the enderman, but trying not to show it.

"That was _amazing_!" Rythian told her. "Are you even hurt? _Anywhere_?" She shook her head. "The way you handled all those enemies, that was _almost_ as good as my first try! You know, _almost_," He added cockily.

"Rythian," she said quietly, turning to face him. "Why did you spawn an enderman in there?"

He shrugged. "After what you had just shown me, I thought you were ready to face one,"

"No, you didn't," her voice turned hard. "I saw you struggling with whether or not to spawn it. You only gave in after I had taunted you,"

Rythian was getting angry. "Look, you took care of it, so why does it matter? It's just an enderman! It's not like it was something you couldn't've handled, was it?"

"Rythian," Terra was quiet, and Rythian couldn't identify any specific emotion in her voice. "I'm not saying I was scared to fight the enderman. I'm saying I think _you_ were scared. I saw you after you had spawned it- you looked angry. You looked pained. _Why_?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"We're done here," he said as he marched off. Something about the way Terra was talking to him made him uneasy. It was almost as if she were suspicious of him- but why? He hadn't done anything to tip her off. He was starting to rethink his decision to take her on so quickly. When he had first seen her, something told him that he _had_ to take her in. He couldn't shake the feeling that she was incredibly important in some way, and Rythian had wanted to know how. Now, though, she made him uneasy.

Speaking of uneasy, why was Zoey so against her? Terra was completely innocent. She barely knew the basics of magic, and she seemed nice enough, if not a bit mysterious. Zoey was usually so friendly, why was she acting so odd? If she of all people didn't trust Terra, Rythian supposed he should be wary of her as well.

Oh well. It _was_ only her first day at Blackrock, Rythian figured he should go apologize for ruining it. He made his way upstairs and to her room, but didn't see her. Instead, there was a note written and hung over her chest.

_Rythian,_  
_I'm sorry for the way I acted after the practice battle. I shouldn't have been so nosy. You're probably wondering about my disappearance, something has come up and I'll be gone for a bit. A few days at the most. I left most of my items here, as I'd prefer to make this journey with what I came here with. _

_-Terra_

Rythian read the note over again a second time, and a third. She was _gone_? He knew she'd said she'd be leaving sometimes, but she'd been at Blackrock for all of four hours! And it was getting dark out. He wanted to go out and find her, but he knew she could handle herself at night. Besides, from what he'd seen of her personality, even if he _could_ find her she wouldn't come back unless she wanted to. He decided to let the pieces fall as they may and leave her to take care of herself.

-

Terra made her way across the open hills, despising every second of it. She much preferred the dark cover of trees to the vast vulnerability of the open. The nearest forest would take too long to get to, though, and she needed to get where she was going as fast as possible.

When she reached her destination, she looked up at the huge door. She closed her eyes and steeled herself before knocking. "Hello?" She called.

The door slid open with a mechanical grinding. The man on the other side was confused and a bit cautious, just as Rythian and the other girl had been.

"Why, hello there. And who would you be?" The man in the lab coat asked. Terra smiled.


	5. So Who Are You?

**Important A/N: Thank you so much for your support on the story, guys! I know it sounds stupid, but it means a lot to get feedback on this sort of thing. Now, I have a really important question to ask you guys. Truth is, I've been holding out on you. I have almost the entire rest of the story typed up and ready to upload, but it's running a bit longer than I expected. I'll give you a bit of perspective- each chapter before this one is around 2.5 typed pages long, and the entire story so far is just shy of the 30 page mark. The next few chapters will be long, and there will probably be 6 or 7 more chapters until I catch up to what I have now.**

**I don't want to upload a ton of short chapters, and I ****_really _****don't want to upload a few wall-of-text style chapters that no one will take the time to read. So here's your choice: I can either upload everything I've written, or I can go back, re-read what Ive done, and take out the parts that don't really contribute to the main story. That would probably shorten the story by a bit, and I'd be more than happy to if you all don't feel like reading a huge amount. Of course, it's up to you. Think about it, and let me know in the comments.**

"Are you the amazing scientist I've heard about?" Terra decided to play up her respect for the man. She needed him to like her, after all.

The man gave a cocky grin. "That would be me,"

"Sir, I-"

"You can call me Lalna,"

"A-alright. Well, Lalna, I've heard stories of your skills as a scientist, and I was wondering, well, uh..." She trailed off quietly.

"You were wondering if I'd be willing to teach you?" Lalna asked. Terra nodded. "Why should I?" Terra was starting to wonder if every person here was going to greet her the same way. Why were they all so suspicious of each other?

"If you give me a place to sleep and teach me to become a technomage, I'd be happy to help you with fighting, protection, building, anything you'd need,"

"I can't say I can think of a reason not to," Lalna said casually, but that wasn't true. He could think of a million reasons not to let her in- she could be Rythian's spy, she could be trying to steal his things, she could be trying to destroy his home- but none of them seemed plausible.

And looking at the girl in front of him, he was overcome with an odd sensation of curiosity. Something told him that this girl was important, and he wanted to know why. "I suppose I could teach you what I know. Come on in, welcome to my humble castle," he said as he waved her inside. Her eyes lit up and she was beaming.

"Humble? Lalna, I'd hardly call this humble!" Terra quipped as she stared up in wonder at the structure surrounding her.

"What did you say your name was again?"

"Terra"

"So, Terra, where would you like to start?" He said, looking at the tall girl. Lalna himself wasn't exactly short, but this girl towered over him.

"Well I can't do much without a some knowledge of where I'll be working, how about you show me around,"

They talked, and Lalna brought Terra to his lab, where he made her a flying ring so she could easily access the rest of the castle.

"Are you sure you know how to use one of these?" He asked, handing it over.

"I think I can get the hang of it. The controls are simple enough; it's almost like I've used one before,"

Lalna showed Terra around, until they eventually made it back to his room. "Here's my room, and I have an extra bedroom next door. I assume you'll be sleeping here?"

Terra hesitated. She had intended to spend the night at Rythian's, but she supposed here would be just fine. "Sure. We can get started in the morning?"

"Of course. Goodnight, Terra,"

"Night," she said as she headed to her room. Today had gone well, apart from the minor argument with Rythian. There was something odd about him, she'd have to watch him more carefully from now on. As for the red headed one, Terra wasn't sure. She knew the girl didn't like her much, but she'd need to work to change that.

Now, though, it was time for sleep.


	6. To Be a Technomage

Lalna sat up in bed and yawned. What did he have to do today? The teleporters needed to be fixed, the condensers had to be sorted, he had to start training his apprentice, there were modifications needed on the...

Terra! He had forgotten that he had to start training her today. He had forgotten there was someone else in the castle to train at all. Getting dressed quickly, Lalna grabbed some goggles and walked down to Terra's bedroom, where she was just waking up as well.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," he said. She smiled at him.

"Hey, Lalna," she said. Lalna watched her sit up and stretch. She looked cute with her hair messed up, shirt rumpled from sleep, pointed ears peaking out, her eyes-

Her eyes looking right at him. "Lalna? You in there?" She asked, waving her hand to catch the scientist's attention.

"Sorry, um, what?" He asked sheepishly.

"I asked what was in store for today. You know, apprentice, training, I was thinking we'd get things done,"

"Right, right. I'll show you the basics. Meet me outside when you're ready," Lalna left and flew down to the ground floor of the castle. He felt like such an _idiot_! Surely terra had seen him staring at her, he hadn't even _tried _to be discreet about it! It was hard not to stare though, she really was beautiful and-

No. No, he wouldn't even try to have anything to do with her like that. There was a reason he lived alone here, and he wasn't going to try to ruin anything with Terra by trying to make a relationship. He'd just play it cool.

"Hey, Lalna. How's it going?"

"N-nothing much," _Fuck. _Yep, playing it cool. Way to go, Lalna. Luckily, Terra didn't see the slip up in the same harsh light as Lalna, and she giggled. He tried to get around it as if nothing had happened. "So I was thinking we'd start with some basic magic, I'd get you some tools and armor, and we can work from there,"

"Sounds great," Together, they started off towards the lab.

"I'm thinking diamonds?"

"_Diamonds_? Lalna, are you sure?"

He chuckled. "You're right, it's not much, but we can upgrade it later,"

"Not much? Rythian, it's diamond!"

He paused. "I'll have a lot of teaching to do, huh?" He muttered before continuing walking.

"And just what is _that _supposed to mean?" Terra asked, hurrying to catch up to Lalna.

"Oh, nothing. Hey, Terra? If you don't mind me asking, where exactly are you from? I've never seen you around here before,"

"Oh just a little village a ways from here,"

Lalna looked surprised. "I didn't know there were any other villages anywhere around here,"

"There isn't anymore," Terra replied sharply.

Understanding dawned on Lalna. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I only ask because you're so tall, and your ears pointed, and-"

"My _ears_? _No_, you weren't supposed to see that," she said, pulling her hood farther down over her head.

Lalna couldn't help but feel like he had just royally screwed himself over, so he kept his mouth shut rather than risk making Terra hate him more.

**-Time Lapse-**

"Wow, it got late quickly," Duncan said, glancing up from the chest he had his head in. "I should probably go to bed. You coming, Terra?"

"Actually, Lalna, I've been meaning to talk to you about this. There are some things I need to do, I won't be able to stay here all the time. I'll stay here a few days, leave for a few days, and come back. Is that alright?"

Lalna smiled, even though the news killed him inside. "Of course! Do what you need to, just don't stay away too long, alright?"

Terra smiled and gave the shorter man a hug. "Thanks, Lalna. I knew you'd be cool with this," She flew up to her room. The second she was gone, Duncan sighed. He knew he'd ruined any chances of their being together earlier that morning, but she was _leaving_? He was starting to like the idea of sharing the castle, too. Knowing that he wasn't alone, that there was someone with him was somehow comforting. He decided to fly up to her room to say goodbye, but she was already gone.

The lid on her chest was hanging open, but he was shocked when he went to close it. All of the tools and armor he'd given her lay inside, including the flying ring. The only things missing were the broken iron sword, the cobblestone, and the food she had originally brought with her. Lalna felt a pang of regret and sadness sweep over him, before he slammed the chest shut with a bang. If she didn't want to come back, that was alright with him.


	7. Even the Kids

Terra was making the trek back to Blackrock, but halfway there she stopped and turned towards the forest, where she climbed up into a tree to think. The forest had always made her feel more at home, and she needed the calming sense it brought her. She absolutely _hated _that she was relying on people to help her with something. The masked one, Rythian- there was something not right about him. Terra thought she knew exactly what it was, but she refused to admit it to herself. There was just no way it was possible, things like that simply don't happen in real life.

And then there was the scientist, Lalna. What a sap. He'd fallen head over heels for her, and Terra knew she could use that to her advantage. As much as it pained and disgusted her to play along now, his affection for her would make her future jobs easier. She had to think in the long-term on this one, no matter how unpleasant the current situation may be.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of voices coming nearer. Her head shot around to where they were coming from, and Terra managed to climb higher into the branches of the tree, just out of sight. She watched as two boys, each a few years younger than she, walked directly below her tree. Terra was relieved that it was just two boys, until she looked a bit closer. Was that kid's hair blue? She chalked it up to a poor choice in hair dye, until she saw his hands. His skin was blue, too?

Terra bit back a scream. She'd heard of creatures like this, and she could only hope that she was quick enough to do what she was preparing to. She shifted on the tree branch, and the creature below froze. The other kid asked him what was wrong, but he only shook his head and stared up at the tree Terra was in.

Holding her breath, she knew she'd have to time this absolutely _perfectly_. The blue 'child' waved his hand slightly, and all the branches hiding Terra moved away to reveal... Nothing. Terra had leapt out of the tree a moment before, and hit the ground running. The two boys saw this and ran after her.

"We know you're there! Stop!" Called the normal boy, who'd drawn sword before setting off through the trees. The other boy said nothing, just pressing on, branches and roots moving out of his way on their own. Terra looked up just in time to see a large root snaking up, threatening to trip her. She jumped over it, but her foot caught the bottom and sent her tumbling. She managed to leap to her feet and keep running for the tree line, jacket billowing behind her like a cape.

She knew that if she wanted to make it out of here without those two catching her, she needed to get out of this forest. The edge of the forest was drawing ever nearer, but so were the two boys. At this point, it was a mad dash to see who would make it out first.

Terra ducked, jumped and swerved to avoid the branches and bushes being moved into her path. Her lungs burnt and her veins were pumping battery acid, but she kept running until she made it out of the forest, seconds ahead of the pair. She didn't dare to look behind her, because even if they were out of the forest those two could still catch up, and catch up one did.

The normal boy drew just close enough to swing at Terra with his sword, catching her leg. Terra thought nothing of it, because she could hardly feel her legs anyways. The boy must've become tired, because he gave up on the chase after that hit. Only when she was over a hill and could hear her footsteps alone did Terra sit and rest. Or rather, _collapse_ and rest.

She lay on the ground, blood pounding through her head, heart jackhammering against her chest. Drawing some shaky, deep breaths to compose herself, she tried to sit up, and found that even that was beyond her ability at this point. She closed her eyes and sighed, wondering just how it was possible to feel this exhausted. She couldn't feel her legs, but she was aware of a warm, wet sensation on the grass below her. Terra had intended to only close her eyes for a moment, but then again, she never had been very good at doing what she intended.

**-Time Lapse-**

Terra's eyes snapped open, and she sat up quickly. A bit too quickly, perhaps, because her head started to spin. She raised a hand to her head, and was shocked to find a long gash running from the middle of her forehead to her left temple. The events of the previous night came rushing back to her, and she had to lay down again. She didn't want to do much of anything at the moment, but she decided that if she was that sore, she must have other injuries aside from the one on her forehead.

Dragging herself to her feet, she looked around. The sound of running water could be faintly heard, and she wanted to find the source so she could wash out her wounds. The second she took a step, though, white-hot pain flared in her right leg. She couldn't see behind her, so she had to bite her tongue and bear it. It took minimal searching before Terra limped into a cave on the face of one of the hills. It had a small pool inside, which Terra used to check her injuries.

She groaned at her reflection. The cut on her head was closed, but there was dry blood around it, and she thought it could reopen if she were to try to mess with it. Her jacket was in tatters, the back full of holes and tears that probably weren't worth patching. The sleeves were shredded, too, but that wasn't too concerning. Her face was covered in little scratches and cuts from where she had dived through some bushes, and she could feel the bruise on her back from when she had tripped on the root and rolled. She shifted her weight onto her right leg, and yelped in pain. She sat on the ground, and turned herself to asses the damage done. What she saw nearly made her sick.

There was a huge gash opened diagonally along the back of her thigh. The fabric around it was stained a dark red, and clung to her skin. The cut was huge, nearly four inches long, and it was terrifyingly deep. The white bit must've been her imagination; there was no way the cut could've reached bone. She was kicking herself for not taking her flying ring, but knew she would bleed out if she just lay here and felt sorry for herself. She didn't know how she hadn't bled out already, but she wouldn't question her luck.

Terra dragged herself to the side of the pool, where some small trees were struggling to grow. She used her iron sword to cut off a long branch, and rose shakily to her feet. Using the branch as a sort of crutch, she was able to make her way out of the cave and towards Blackrock Fortress.


	8. Running from Her Problems

Zoey hummed to herself as she walked to the mooshroom pen. She needed to check on Daisy and Sarah, something Rythian had been neglecting to do. When she arrived at the pen, however, she noticed something odd. Both mooshrooms were standing at one end of the pen, staring at a hill. She knew mooshrooms had a knack for sensing danger, so she decided to walk down to the hill. When she arrived, she heard labored breathing. With renewed urgency, she climbed up the hill to find Terra struggling up the other side.

Terra was using a stick to help climb the hill, but it got caught between two rocks and snapped in half, pitching Terra forward. She landed on her front, giving Zoey full view of the injury on her leg. Zoey gasped and ran down to help the taller girl.

"Terra! Terra, are you alright?" She asked, kneeling beside her.

"Go away, I'm fine, I can do this on my own," Terra growled, then winced when she tried to get back up.

"Terra, don't move, I'm getting help. Just stay here," Zoey tried to comfort her as she stood up. She rushed back to Blackrock, praying to Notch that Rythian could hear her. "Rythian! Rythian, help! It's Terra, she's hurt! Rythian!"

The man flew around the side of the castle, hurtling toward Zoey at top speed. "Rythian! It's Terra, she's on the other side of that hill, she's really hurt, you need to help!" Rythian nodded and changed directions for the hill without slowing down.

Terra lay on the ground, cursing her luck. She hated feeling so helpless, relying on someone she barely knew. She felt vulnerable, barely able to move, certainly not able to stand. She didn't have time to lament, however, because Rythian flew over the hill and came towards her. His eyes widened at the sight of her leg; he could hardly fathom how Terra had let that happen. He picked her up in his arms, and she reluctantly grabbed his neck in case he dropped her. Together they flew towards the castle.

Rythian deposited Terra gently face down on her bed, so he could get a better look at her leg. "What did you manage to do now?" He muttered, studying the wound. He wasn't expecting an answer, but he glanced at her face anyway.

Her eyes were glazed over in pain, and her breathing was shallow and labored. He could tell it was all she could do to stay conscious. There was a large cut on her forehead which had opened again, and her clothes were shredded. Rythian sighed and left, only to come back a moment later, arms loaded with bandages, rubbing alcohol, and other medical supplies. Zoey trailed close behind him.

Terra tried to stay awake to watch the pair get to work, but she was just so tired. The area around the cut on her leg had gone numb, and the rest of her body was one large bruise. She vaguely heard Rythian say something like "This might sting," while pouring rubbing alcohol on a cloth, but the moment he touched her skin, she passed out from the pain.

**-Time Lapse-**

"You're awake! Good, I was starting to get worried," Terra awoke to the sight of Zoey at her bedside. Zoey still didn't trust the stranger, but seeing her in so much trouble brought out the maternal instinct that was barely disguised under normal circumstances. A combination of Zoey's medical knowledge and Rythian's magic had healed most of Terra's injuries, but the cut on her leg would scar, and she would have to limit use of her leg for a bit, but she should be fine.

"Whahappened?" Terra slurred.

"Actually, we were hoping you could tell us that," Rythian answered coldly, walking into the room. "Zoey, thanks for your help, I think you should leave now,"

"But-"

"Now," He cut her off. She sensed the anger in his voice, and left. He turned back to Terra. "Care to explain?" He asked, gesturing towards the bandages swatting her leg.

"Rythian, I don't want to do this right now,"

"And you think I wanted to fix you up yesterday?" He shouted.

"Yesterday? How long was I asleep?"

"Don't try to change the subject! I want to know where you went, and why you came back nearly dead!"

"I didn't die, Rythian. I'm fine,"

"Fine? Terra, if we'd found you any later, you might not have that leg right now! Who did this to you?"

"It was just some kids. Don't worry about it," she waved him off.

Rythian wasn't having any of it. "Some kids? Martyn and Toby," he growled. "When I find those kid, they're dead,"

"Rythian, please don't do anything. It's not their fault. I might have been sneaking around in their forest," she added hastily.

Rythian groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. His apprentice had made Toby and Martyn mad. Why them, of all people? Why not someone he could take care of easily, like Lalna? The boys had power, but not the same kind as he or Lalna. Their power was something learned, but Martyn and Toby's power was something different, something stronger. He could feel the beginnings of a headache beginning to creep up on him. "You didn't answer my first question. Where did you go?"

She floundered for a moment. "Rythian..."

"Tell. Me. The truth," he was quiet, but something in those words told Terra she needed to give Rythian an answer.

"I was visiting my home,"

This was obviously not the answer Rythian was expecting, and he glanced up at Terra. "What?"

"I said I was visiting my home. I come from a village in the woods a ways from here,"

Rythian was just as surprised as Lalna had been. "I didn't know there were any other villages around here,"

"There aren't. Not any more,"

This shocked Rythian more, and sadness filled his eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry. What happened?"

"It was destroyed by an evil person, with evil intentions. I survived, and moved on. I returned back to see what I could salvage, and if there was anyone left alive there. That's where I went, and that's where I will be going. Unless, of course, you have a problem with me visiting my destroyed life?"

"Of course not. I'm sorry, Terra, I didn't know-"

"You didn't know. None of you ever do," she spat. "If you'll excuse me, Rythian, I think I should be getting some rest right now,"

"Right. Goodbye, Terra," he said as he left the room. Terra sighed and settled back onto the bed. She didn't want to tell any of that to Rythian. She didn't want to tell any of that to anyone. She had been lucky that Lalna had stopped questioning her back at his lab, but she thought that was the end of it. Obviously not.

She'd need to make sure Rythian didn't share that information with anyone, from there it was only a small step to how her village had been destroyed. But now wasn't the time to worry about all that, and she closed her eyes to drift back to sleep.

Rythian sat on his bed, head in his hands. Why was Terra being so impossible to work with? It was times like these that made him really question his decision to teach her. He had no idea why he'd ever agreed to-

No. That wasn't true. He knew exactly why he'd agreed to take her in. Something told him he needed to do it, some part of his brain said she was incredibly important. It wasn't Their voices, either. Actually, They seemed to be almost afraid of Terra. According to Them, she was dangerous and evil.

Of course, They only ever had Their own interests in mind, not Rythian's, and Their interests were always trying to hurt him. Rythian had always ignored them before, and he didn't see why he should do anything differently now, so he took Terra in.

Then there was the whole episode when her hood had slipped, her first day here. He had seen her ears, and even though she tried to hide them, he knew she wasn't human. Many of the people here weren't- the space man, the dwarf, Martyn... Himself. The only difference was that Rythian knew what all those people were, and what they were capable of. He'd spent time collecting information, and what he knew about them was enough to fill books.

What he knew about Terra wasn't enough to fill a note card, let alone books.

There was no point in reliving the past, he decided. He'd made his choices, and there was definitely no going back on them now. He'd just have to live with it, and hope that he was right to have trusted his instincts.


	9. Rabidus Regius

**Hey guys! Sorry, I've been sidetracked lately and haven't had the time to upload any chapters, so to make up, I'm posting two for the feedback on the chapters so far, remember, reviews are always welcome, even if you think the story isn't that great. PS, the chapter title is 'Crazy Royalty' or 'Insane Royalty' in Latin, in case you aren't up to date on foreign languages.**

The next few days passed uneventfully. Zoey made Terra some new clothes to replace the ones that had been destroyed. Terra used her flying ring to get around most places, and Rythian didn't bring up her home again. She was even on better terms with Zoey. After seeing Terra in such a weakened state (and definitely not hearing the story of her home while eavesdropping outside her door), Zoey trusted her more. Zoey was outside helping Terra learn how to use a flame ring.

"You know, everyone's really taken a liking to you," Zoey told her while putting out some fires she had started. "Me, Rythian, Teep, Barry,"

"Barry? Who's Barry?"

"You haven't met _Barry_?" Zoey sounded excited. "Come on, I have to introduce you right away!" Zoey grabbed Terra by the forearm and began to drag her towards the castle.

"Zoey, where are we going? What about the fire ring training?" Terra couldn't help laugh at Zoey's enthusiasm as she glided along, being pulled by the eager redhead.

"The ring training can wait! Come on, Barry is right down here" she said, guiding Terra into the castle and down some stairs. "_This_," she said with a flourish, "is Barry,". She grinned. Terra was just confused.

"Is Barry behind the giant mushroom?"

Zoey looked hurt. "Barry _is_ the giant mushroom. He's the king of the mushroom force, see his crown?"

Terra wasn't quite sure how to react. She'd never been faced with full-frontal insanity before. She decided to just play along. "Oh. That's... Interesting,"

Zoey looked back tote mushroom. "What's that, Barry? Oh, this is just Terra. She's Rythian's new apprentice," she paused and 'listened'. "Yeah, I thought I was too, but I guess he thinks I'm too good for that now! Oh well, I have to go now Barry, I should probably finish training Terra. Bye, tell your subjects hi for me!" She turned back to Terra. "Lets's go," she said.

Terra straightened, and picked her jaw up off the floor. "Actually, Zoey, I need to go do something else. I'll see you later though, alright?" She smiled, and Zoey smiled back.

"Alright. See you later, Terra!"

Terra went up to the ground level and straight to the room full of chests, where Rythian was building something. He turned when he heard her come in. "Hey, Terra," he said absentmindedly.

"Hey Rythian, can I talk to you?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"Is Zoey, you know, _all there_?"

His eyes narrowed, then he realized something and smiled. "Let me guess- you met Barry?"

"Rythian, she was talking to the mushroom! And she thought it was talking back!"

"Yeah, she's a bit crazy, but she's my crazy,"

There was a pause before Terra spoke up. "You really like her, don't you, Rythian?"

He was flustered. "What- I- I don't- how did-" he stammered.

"Rythian, don't even try to deny it, it's completely obvious. The way you look at her, the way you smile whenever she's around, hell, I'm sure even _Lalna_ knows it by now!"

Rythian froze. "Terra," he said slowly. "How do you know who Lalna is?"

Terra had painted herself into a corner. "From the same person that told me about you," she replied casually, hoping Rythian hadn't caught the slight hesitation before she spoke.

"The same person? What was his name?"

"I don't remember, I'm not sure he ever told me. Odd man, glasses, could talk for hours. Said something about building pools..."

"Nilesy told you about us?"

"_Nilesy_! Right, that was his name. And yeah, he sort of gave me the run-down on most of the people here when he found out I wasn't from around here,"

Rythian looked defeated. "You know, I'm actually not surprised. That guy is too helpful for his own good,"

"Hey, you know, Nilesy told me something interesting about you. He said you aren't exactly on speaking grounds with Lalna, and someone named Sjin. What's that all about?"

Rythian's eyes darkened, and he busied himself with the chest again. "Nothing you should concern yourself with,"

"But Rythian, if I'm to be here as your apprentice, don't you think I should know _why_ you do what you do, and not just _how_ you do it?"

The girl made a compelling point. Rythian sighed in defeat. "You aren't going to leave me alone until I tell you, will you?"

"Nope!" Said Terra, overly-cheerfully. She sat down on a chest, trying to get comfortable for the story she knew would inevitably come.

Rythian sighed and sat on the floor, back to the chest he was working in. "This whole thing happened quite a bit ago, in a land nowhere near here," he started.

"There weren't many people with us back then. There was Zoey and I, although we weren't working together like we are now. Teep was there too, but he was different. I think the stress of the Old World happenings messed with his head.

And then, of course, there were Lalna and Sjin, whom I hope for your sake you'll never have the misfortune of meeting. They had been engaged in a battle for some time, but it was nothing major. Petty battles, stealing, nothing serious. Of course, as their need for revenge grew, so did the size of their retaliation," Rythian took a deep breath to calm himself. He sounded lost in the story, like he'd forgotten he was telling it to someone. He also looked incredibly mad, and he was shaking, his fists clenched at his sides.

"It finally reached it breaking point. I don't know who shot first, I just know that one second everything was calm, and the next, those two were using jet packs and mining lasers to try to destroy each other," he barked out a laugh, but there was no humor in it.

"I say 'try', they weren't having much luck. I don't think either of them hit the other directly very many times, if at all. Everything burned, there was lava and fire everywhere. They blew up each other's houses and labs, but they didn't stop there.

"They both called it 'misfiring', but I know the truth. You don't _misfire_ six times at the same spot. Everything was destroyed, Zoey's mushrooms, the forests, there were even a few blasts directly to my house. Sjin gave up with his laser or something, I don't know, maybe he just snapped. All I know is that he went into Lalna's lab, and went down below to the nuclear reactor. He took out the coolant cells, which blew up the reactor.

"Zoey, Teep and I were far from the village when the blast went off, but we were still lucky to've escaped with our lives. As for Sjin and Lalna, I have no idea how they survived. There was no salvaging the remains of our homes, as there were no remains to salvage. Our houses were there, albeit burning, one second, and in the blink of an eye there was just a crater. A huge, meteor-impact-sized crater full of the shredded burnt remains of what we used to know," he finished bitterly. "So there. Its all their faults. _Happy_?"

"But why not just let it go? You're somewhere else now, with a different home and set up. Why not just forget it all?"

"I _can't_! Those two can't be trusted. Sjin I haven't heard from in a while, so I don't think I have too much to worry from him for now. But Lalna I believe may be planning to start the next war. Besides, I can't just let them get away with something like that! They both think it's no big deal, that I'm over reacting, but I think Lalna's just trying to distract me, or turn the others against me," he sighed, and seemed to realize I was still listening. "It's getting late, can you go outside and check on the animals?"

"Actually, I need to leave again, but I'll kill any mobs I see on the way out," Terra said, moving towards the door.

"Leaving? But your leg-"

"Will be perfectly fine as long as I use my flying ring. You worry too much, Rythian,"

"I wouldn't have to worry if you wouldn't go do things that could get you killed," he muttered, but a smile was tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Just, do me a favor, alright? Stay out of Martyn's woods, _please_. I don't need to drag you back here with your arm lopped off or something,"

"Sure, Rythian. I'll see you in a few days, tell Zoey I said bye and everything,"

"Of course. See you later, Terra," he called, but she was already out the door and in her room. She was in a hurry, she'd been away from Lalna's castle longer than intended, nearly a week. She shoved all her armor and weapons into the chest by her bed- except for her flying ring, of course; she had no interest in limping back across those hills.


	10. A Different Kind of Pain

Lalna was busying himself with fixing his mining laser when he heard someone knock on the door. Who would that be? It couldn't be Rythian or Sjin; they'd blow up the door sooner than knock on it. Sips would just hurl insults at Lalna till he opened the door, and he doubted Xephos or Honeydew even knew their way to his castle. Zoey, perhaps, come to ask for more supplies? He punched in the command to open the door, and told dumbfounded at the sight.

"Hey, Lalna. How's it going?" Terra stood outside, leaning heavily on one leg, hands shoved in her pockets.

"_Terra_!" He yelped. "You're back!"

"In all my glory," she grinned sarcastically, then made her way inside. "What's wrong, you didn't expect me to come back?"

"Well, I, uh," Lalna was reluctant to share that that had, in fact, been the case. "It's just, you left all your armor and weapons here, so I thought..." He trailed off sheepishly.

"But I'm back now, aren't I?"

"What happened to your leg?" Lalna had noticed her obvious limp, and he was concerned.

It was her turn to act sheepish. "We'll, don't freak out. I might have had a _minor_ run in with some people who weren't happy with me being on their land, and one of them _might_ have _barely_ glanced me with his sword before I could escape. But, you know, nothing major, nothing to be concerned over," she added hastily.

"Show me your leg," he demanded.

"Lalna, I really don't think there's any need for-"

"Show. Me. Your _leg_,"

Terra sighed. "Fine, but _don't freak out_, alright?" She said defeatedly as she bunched up the fabric of her pants leg. She turned to give Lalna a better view of the scar, and he nearly passed out.

"Terra, who did this to you, so help me _Notch_ I'll-"

"Lalna, you said you wouldn't freak out,"

"No, _you_ said I wouldn't freak out. _I_ did no such thing,"

"Lalna, I'm fine, really, I am,"

"Then why are you limping?"

"I can use my flying ring to get around,"

Lalna deflated. "You're sure you're fine?" She nodded. "Alright. If you say so. But Terra, who patched you up? You couldn't have healed yourself on your own,"

"Oh, no one, really. I mean, I never got any names. They saw me hurt, fixed my leg, and sent me on my way. Simple as that," something about the nervous way Terra said that didn't sit well with Lalna, but he kept his suspicions to himself.

"Right. Well, you'd better go get your things from your room, you have a lot to catch up on," she nodded and walked off. He couldn't pace his finger on it, but there was something different about her. He studied her as she flew back down to him a moment later, sword in hand. "Are you wearing different clothes?" He asked as she came to a stop hovering a few inches off the ground. Her jacket was a different style, and her shirt had a large 'X' sown in purple on the front, contrasting the grey fabric nicely.

"You noticed! Like them?" She did a small spin in the air.

He smiled. "Yeah, they look goo-" he stopped short and stared intently at her jacket.

"Lalna? What is it?"

"Come here," she told her. She glided in his direction, and he took the edge of her jacket in his hand. There, at the bottom, was something sown on in yellow thread. It took him a moment to realize where he had seen the signature 'Z' before. "Terra, I'm going to ask again. Where did you go to get these clothes and heal your leg?" He asked. The question was quiet, but cold and knowing.

"Lalna, I told you I'm not sure,"

"_Really_?" He snarled. "You're sure you didn't go to Blackrock? You didn't have _Zoey_ make you these clothes, and _Rythian_ heal you? Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about!"

Terra broke. "Lalna, I'm so sorry, I knew you wouldn't be okay with it, I tried to hide it from you because of this! When my leg got cut, that was the closest place. The girl found me and brought me in. I was nearly unconscious from blood loss, and I couldn't exactly tell them to leave me out to die, could I? I only stayed there a night, I swear! I'm _sorry_!" Her voice cracked on the last word, and her eyes were shining wet.

Lalna's heart melted. It was like trying to stay mad at a puppy; she didn't know she'd done anything wrong, so how could he blame her for it? "It's alright. Just- just stay away from Blackrock from now on, okay? It's dangerous," He said. She nodded and smiled. "Good. Now that that's settled, we really ought to get back to the lab, alright?" She nodded and trailed behind him in the air as he walked towards the lab.

The second Lalna's back was turned, Terra smirked and narrowed her eyes. She couldn't _believe_ he'd bought that load! A few fake tears and he was putty in her hands. Then again, she'd always been a pretty good actor.


	11. So Much Plotting, So Little Time

That was how the next few weeks went for Terra. Moving back and forth between Lalna and Rythian every few days, she was able to maintain the illusion that each person was her only mentor. There were a few slip ups, such as the clothing disaster with Lalna, but each was handled, leaving no one the wiser. It wasn't until nearly her second month in Yog's Knot that she decided to start branching out more.

"Rythian, I'm leaving!" She called down the hallway.

"Be careful!" He called back. This had become their routine; no goodbyes, not even face to face talking most of the time, just a yelled announcement, and a conformation he'd heard her. She threw her items in her chest, but held on to her red matter sword and flying ring, along with something else. She didn't want to take a risk by leaving for this new place without any of the three. She waved goodbye to Teep and Zoey on her way out of the castle, then landed in some woods (steering far clear of Martyn's area) and pulled out a map.

She'd stolen the map from one of Rythian's chests; she hoped he wouldn't miss it before she got back. Tracing a path with her finger, Terra memorized exactly where she had to go. She folded up the map and put in back in her pocket before setting off again.

She heard voices, and knew she was in the right place. The combination of lights and the sounds of machinery was a tip off on its own, but hearing these two, she was certain. Terra made sure to land and sheath her sword before she got too near the camp. It was dark out, but the tons of torches spanning the area gave more than enough light to see by. Her leg had healed considerably and her limp was barely noticeable, so she was able to pick her way through the torches without much problem.

"What are you doing, I told you that goes there!" A voice came from one of the buildings to her left; she might as well follow it.

"No, you dumdum, not there, that block goes- why hello there," said the short man, turning around to face her. "Who're you?" He asked.

"Hey, what is it? Who's up there?" A voice called from the hole this man was standing over. The man stuck his head out of the hole, and Terra saw he had a mustache.

"Is this SipsCo HQ?" Terra asked. "I'm here to apply for the pool boy opening,"

"The pool boy opening? Well that could be tough, considering you're not exactly a boy," The short one paused and narrowed his eyes. "Are you?"

"Alright, maybe not the _pool boy_ position, but isn't there anything else you guys need help with? Protection, building, anything like that?"

"I have Sjin here for building, and I doubt we'll need protection any time soon. We can handle ourselves,"

Terra smirked. "You can handle yourselves? Then I suppose you can handle the creeper behind you,"

"Wha-" The shorter man spun around, directly into a creeper who'd walked in through a hole in the side of the building. Terra let it get within a second of exploding before casually launching her sword at it, sending the TNT-on-legs to the floor. When the shorter man turned back, she exaggerated a yawn.

"Right. You guys can handle yourselves. I see that now. I'll just take my _red matter sword_ and _technomage knowledge_ and be on my way, then," she stepped toward her sword on the ground, but the shorter man made a move to step between her and it.

"On second thought, I'm sure there's some use for you around here," he stuck out a hand, which Terra shook. "I'm Sips, head of SipsCo, owner of everything you see here,"

The other man managed to pull himself out of the hole, and he dusted his hands on his pants before extending one. "And I'm Sjin,"

"Terra," she said, shaking Sjin's hand.

"We'll it's good to have you at SipsCo, Terra. Now, how's about Sjin here shows you around, and I'll stay here and get this done," Sjin nodded, and waved her with him out the door.

Terra studied Sjin while he flew around the area, pointing out buildings. He was tall, probably around 6'3" or 6'4". Of course, with her 6'11", Terra still towered over him. Other than his height and his mustache, Sjin was nondescript. He seemed almost kind in the way he showed Terra around, and she simply couldn't see the evil, needlessly destructive monster Rythian had described to her.

"And that's the compound. Any questions?" His sudden stop snapped Terra out of her thoughts.

"Uh, no. I think I got it. Thanks, Sjin,"

"Of course," he smiled, and looked up. "Oh, I didn't realize how late it was. We should probably get back to Sips so we can set you up a bed," They went back to the room she had arrived in, to find Sips lounging on a chest. He jumped to attention and tried to look busy the second they walked in.

Sjin rolled his eyes, but ignored it as if he were used to it. "Sips, it's getting late. We should get to bed, and we need to get Terra something to sleep in, too," he nodded, and they left for the bedrooms. Sips and Sjin shared one large bedroom, and after making a bed, Terra said there was no reason she couldn't as well. Before setting her bed down, she noticed something a bit odd.

"You two connected your beds?" She smirked.

Sjin's eyes grew wide, and he turned a bit red. "I don't- we aren't- what are you-" Sjin spluttered.

Sips, however, stayed relatively calm, if not a bit defensive. "We did this to stay warm in the winter. In case you haven't noticed, it isn't exactly heated in here. Being next to someone helps,"

"Right, right. I never accused you of anything, no need to prove a point, Sips," she gave a knowing smile before flopping into her bed. Sips and Sjin both looked at each other before climbing in as well, making an obvious point to each stay as far way from each other as was possible in the confined space.


	12. Helping the Plan Along

At first, Terra was certainly stressed by the addition of a new place to sneak off to. Having a third meant less time spent at each one of them, but she had gotten the hang of it quickly. Of course, Rythian had taught her almost everything he could, and all Lalna has ever done is have Terra help out around the lab, so there was no big loss there.

As far as Terra could tell, SipsCo was a pointless operation. It buys the land under your feet, 'refines it' (which just seemed to Terra like running it through a bunch of pipes), and sells it back to you at triple what it was bought for.

The pair running it didn't always have much for her to do, but as Sjin put it, "It's nice having someone new to talk to around here. Sips gets boring sometimes,".

She watched this pair closely. Sips ran the company; put his name on everything, made sure the workers- Sjin, and Sjin alone- were doing their jobs, and 'supervised' everything, which mainly consisted of a lot of sitting around, shooting at things with a laser, and yelling to work faster.

Sjin was the one with all the real scientific knowledge. All the pipes, chests, and machines were nearly entirely his doing. He still didn't know everything, and called on Terra for advice time to time, but for the most part, Sjin knew the entire factory, down to the last bolt. Sips lacked knowledge, but wielded his title as an excuse. Sjin lacked power, but ran the entire company. Why?

If Terra hadn't heard from Rythian how evil and destructive Sjin had been, she would never have guessed it. She had met him, and she still almost couldn't believe it. Sjin was simply too nice, too kind, too friendly of a man to have destroyed a village and almost kill his friends. Then again, looks could be deceiving.

She of all people should know that.

Terra had worked out something where shed'd spend a few days at each place and move on, rotating between the three. After a month or two of this, she decided it was time to add in the last piece. She said good bye to Sips and Sjin, and took her sword and flying ring before setting off again.

She hardly needed a map; this final place was close, and had enough lights to be seen from anywhere within 20 miles at night. As she neared it, Terra noted that this group had taken the time to build more than just the factory. There were farms, animal pens, and what looked like a bar all outside the main factory. She wouldn't get her hopes up, though- more development didn't always mean more power or knowledge.

Speaking of the factory, it was enormous. Probably many stories high, it had a huge sign on the front that read "Honeydew Inc", with a yellow head in a viking helmet. Whoever this person was, he must've been even more vain than Sips to have his head in glowing neon on his building.

Terra couldn't see anyone, so she decided to check out the smaller buildings. Just as she was nearing the first, though, something stopped her.

"Hello, there!" Called a cheery voice from behind her. She gasped and her hand flew to the sword at her side. Se whipped her head around- then down.

A short, bearded man in a Viking helmet was smiling up at her. "I'm Honeydew. Who're you?"

Terra couldn't help but smile at her panic over something so little. "Honeydew? Are you the owner of this company?"

"That'd be me! Honeydew Inc, producers of the finest Jaffa Cakes around! Well, as soon as we start making them, we will be," he muttered.

"Honeydew! What did you do with the copper cables? I can't find them anywh- Why, hello. Who's this?" A taller man in a red suit came hurtling around the corner of the factory with a flying ring. When he saw Terra, he slowed and dropped towards them.

"This is- uhm, sorry, what did you say your name was again?"

"I'm Terra,"

"Nice to meet you, Terra, I'm Xephos. So what're you doing here in our factory?"

"Our factory?" Honeydew cut in. "What do you mean our factory? It's not called 'Honeydew and Xephos' Inc, is it?" He asked playfully.

"Actually, I'm here looking for employment,"

That wasn't the answer Xephos had been expecting, and it was obvious. "What was that?"

"I want to work here, making Jaffas. Or helping with the animals, or building machinery, you know, whatever's needed,"

"And you think you have the knowledge to do this?" Xephos asked. "Do you know about technology and machines?"

"I'm holding a red matter sword, aren't I? And yes, I've been trained in how to work with magic and machines, I think I'll do fine,"

"You've been trained? By who?" Honeydew asked suspiciously.

"No one you'd know, they don't exactly live around here,"

"Fair enough. And sure, I think it'll be great having you work here," If Xephos sounded happy on the outside, he was simply ecstatic on the inside. Having someone who knew about machinery would be a huge help around the factory; the infamous 'wall of machines' was proof of his and Honeydew's own limited skill set.

Terra beamed. "Thank you guys, you won't regret this," she said.

* * *

**Simple filler chapter, you all were probably expecting this at this point. I hate to say it, but I'm finishing typing the story, and I got a massive case of writers block, so updates might be farther in between for a bit. Thanks for all the feedback and support, you guys really are the greatest!**


	13. Everyone and Everything

At Honeydew, Terra had really nothing to do. There was the occasional machinery to be assembled, and she would have to explain how parts work to Xephos often, but there were no real jobs to occupy her time. That gave her time to think.

She mostly thought about each of the people she'd met so far. There was Rythian, Zoey, Duncan, Sips, Sjin, and most recently Xephos and Honeydew. Zoey was a sweet girl - trusting, if not overly so, and always ready to help when needed. She had been, and probably still slightly was, suspicious of Terra, but that had mostly dissipated at this point.

There had been a small surprise from the girl, later on. On one of Terra's trips back, she saw Zoey's red cape disappearing out of Barry's cave. Terra decided to look anyways, and noticed a hole in the floor. She was more than shocked to find an entire underground lab beneath Blackrock. Terra had always known that there was more to Zoey than what met the eye, but an entire underground lab? Not what she'd been expecting. She could still remember the talk she'd had with Rythian about it later.

* * *

_~~3 months in the past, at Blackrock Castle~~_

_"Rythian, do you know that Zoey has an entire lab under the house?"_

_"So you found out about that," He looked uncomfortable and guilty, which sent Terra raging._

_"Yes, I found out about it! It's hard not to with all the noise those machines are making! Why would you let her do something like that?"_

_He didn't say anything, but they both knew the answer. He'd done it because he was completely in love with Zoey, and he'd do anything for her. Even if that 'anything' goes completely against all he believes in. As far as Terra was concerned, Rythian's affection was a weakness, and if there was one thing Terra knew how to do, it was exploit weaknesses._

* * *

Rythian. Terra had gotten the chance to study Rythian closer in the past weeks, and now she was entirely certain of his heritage. He'd tried to hide it, sure, but there was no getting something like that around her. It was an amazing coincidence, to be sure, and it'd make the later parts of her plan so much more interesting. Other than that, Rythian was mostly unremarkable, except for his prolonged grudge against Sjin and Lalna.

Speaking of Lalna, the man had obviously fallen hard for her. If he weren't so distracted all the time, she supposed he would be an amazing scientist. He'd made nano armor and surrounded his base with a force field. He even amassed enough supplies and knowledge to build a nuke under Rythian's base, and, though Lalna wouldn't say it, Terra was almost certain he'd hidden a nuke under SipsCo.

Sips and Sjin were a different story entirely. They pretended to have complete control over everyone and everything they could see, but it was a thin veil. More than once had Terra questioned them about the inner workings of the company, and more than once had the pair avoided the questioning all together. They seemed powerful and controlling from far away, but Terra knew the truth behind the space-wasting dirt company.

The longer she worked at Honeydew Inc, the more certain she became that this was no more useful that Sips' and Sjin's company. Honeydew and Xephos claimed to make the finest Jaffas in all the land, however Jaffas were something Terra had yet to see produced. The taller man, Xephos, was not of this world; Terra knew it from the moment she laid eyes on him. The other man, Honeydew, was a dwarf. He had picked up on her pointed ears right away, and took an immediate liking to her. Dwarves and elves aren't too far apart by blood, he'd said. He'd also asked what elven tribe she came from- a question Terra was lucky to have evaded.

The longer she spent between the major companies, the more tales she heard of smaller ones nearby. A group situated in the forest, InTheLittleCorp. The company was run by a boy and a forest spirit. Terra had a hard time controlling her anger when she heard of them; she still wasn't quite able to walk properly because of the would the boy had caused.

There was another girl, off the coast near Honeydew Inc. Lomadia, her name was, and she ran an owl sanctuary on an island with the help of a trade pool builder. Terra knew that even with her flying ring it would take quite a journey to go and meet Lomadia, so she chose to stay on the mainland and listen to mere stories of the owl-obsessed girl instead.

At this point, Terra had been at Honeydew Inc for weeks, but it'd been almost seven months since she'd first come to Rythian's doorstep. All that time, she had been gathering information at each company, filing it all away in her head for later use. There would be a time, very soon indeed, to use all of that information, but now was not that time.

Now was the time to go back around to each company for one final bit of 'work'.

* * *

Terra moved place to place, never staying in any one place for more than a few hours at a time. Some quick hellos, a secret trip to take all her things from her rooms, a goodbye, and she was off again. Visiting all four places took most of the day, and by the time she was done it was nearly sunset. That was good- she had to do the next part of her plan without anyone finding her, and the cover of darkness that night would provide was perfect.

She worked quickly, digging, placing, wiring. It only took a couple hours, but Terra was running on borrowed time. She finished the last block and began straight on the next step of the plan. Rocketing up into the air, she set off towards Rythian's castle. Nearly invisible in the night, her jacket flapping in the wind behind her, Terra couldn't help but grin. She was tired, but this would all pay off soon.


	14. Into the Rabbit Hole

Rythian woke up late, light streaming in through the windows. He yawned and smiled, rolling on his side. He was confused when Zoey wasn't laying there with him, but he realized she was probably just doing something in the castle. Struggling out of bed, Rythian made his way downstairs and in to the back rooms. Zoey was nowhere to be found, and Rythian grew confused. He didn't want to check inside her lab however, not without exhausting all other possibilities first.

Exhaust all other possibilities he did, and Zoey was still missing. With a sigh, Rythian descended the stairs into Barry's cave, then down through the alarm systems into the main room. If he hadn't been paying attention he may not have noticed, but by chance he stopped to look at the large monitor on the wall.

Instead of it's usual description of the BARRY initiative, it read Error several times, with a string of binary preceding each. Below the screen, a note was stuck to the wall.

The note was folded over, and the lettering was small, but Rythian was able to read the front from across the room all the same.

_Looking for someone?_

Rythian felt the room shift under him and his stomach lurch as he dived to the wall and snatched the paper taped there. He unfolded it the rest of the way.

_Rythian,_

_You've probably noticed that a certain fiery redhead and bow-wielding lizard are no longer at Blackrock. There is a map on the back of this note, I suggest you follow it as soon as possible. You will leave __all__ rings, potions, weapons and armor here. If you don't come with absolutely nothing, I may get angry. And I don't think Zoey here likes it very much when I'm angry. _

_Hurry, hurry, Rythian. The clock is ticking._

That was it. Rythian flipped the note over, and sure enough, a crude map was on the back, showing a shack not too far from his house. No signature, but the sender was obvious enough. Rythian only knew one person who would type a letter to him.

"Lalna, if you touch a hair on her head, so help me Notch," Rythian growled softly. He didn't want to chance her getting hurt, so he tore up to his room to discard his armor and weapons before setting off.

* * *

Martyn knew something was wrong the second he opened his eyes. Sitting up in bed, he realized Toby wasn't in his normal spot- curled in a ball under the covers. Instead, there was a note laying on his pillow. Martyn picked up the folded paper, which had a simple question on the front.

_Looking for someone?_

His heart moved to his throat and his stomach began to hurt as Martyn unfolded the note and read on.

_Martyn,_

_I suspect you know Toby is gone. There is a map on the back of this paper showing where you should go first. You really should leave now, I don't think Toby would want you to keep me waiting. I might get... Bored. Come empty handed- no armor, weapons, rings, __nothing__, or else._

The note was unsigned, but Martyn knew exactly who had done this. Martyn grew angry, and the branches of the trees nearest the camp began to shake and curl in on themselves as well. Taking one look at the map on the back, he emptied his pockets and set his armor on his bed, shoved the enderblood-stained note into his pocket, then left the clearing with one thing on his mind- exacting revenge on Rythian.

* * *

Each of the others in Yog's Knot received a similar note, with a similar motivation. Lomadia awoke to a missing Nilesy, and her note had been pinned to the wall with tree sap with an odd leaf stuck to the bottom; she took a boat to the mainland with the intent to destroy Martyn.

Sjin sat up in bed to find his loud-mouthed lumberjack gone. His note was accompanied by an owl feather, and Sjin decided he'd be damned if he wasn't going to go save Sips from Lomadia.

It took Xephos a moment to realize Honeydew had disappeared. His note- which had been pinned to the wall of the factory penthouse- was dusted with refined dirt, and had some spattered mud at the bottom. While Xephos was confused as to why Sips or Sjin would take Honeydew, he knew he had to go save the dwarf.

Finally, we come back to Lalna. Lalna didn't have anyone he cared about living with him, and he could always replace any material item stolen from him. So what were the bargaining chips against him?

_Lalna,_

_We want to play a little game. You're going to go to the place on the map on the back of this paper. You will come alone, you will come unarmed. You will not have any armor, weapons, potions, rings or anything else to aid you. You will do this as soon as possible, and you will do it without question._

Lalna would have laughed off the Jaffa-crumb-dusted note, calling it nothing more than a prank. An odd prank for Honeydew and Xephos to pull, sure, but nonetheless, a prank. Lalna would have laughed off the note, had he not read the final line.

_We have Terra._

* * *

And that was that. The pieces were set, the plan was in motion. Now it was time to sit and watch as the next part of the plan was set up all on its own.


	15. Setting Them up to Fall

Rythian marched over the hill holding nothing more than the map. He could see a small shack in the distance, and picked up his pace. He couldn't see inside, but the shack was certainly too small to be where Zoey was held. Rythian considered skipping the shack all together and heading straight for Lalna's castle, since that was sure to be where Lalna had taken Zoey. And Teep, of course- Rythian was worried for Teep too, just to a lesser extent. Teep could handle himself most of the time.

Just as Rythian was getting close to the shack, he saw a familiar blond head turn the corner. With a near-inhuman cry of rage, Rythian launched himself at Lalna, tackling the scientist and sending them both rolling. Rythian had surprise on his side, and landed on top, pinning Lalna down.

"Where is she?" He howled. "What did you do with Zoey?"

Lalna was confused. "I didn't do anything with Zoey! What are you talking about?"

Rythian grinned, but there was no humor in it. "Playing innocent, are we? I woke up this morning, and Zoey was gone. There was a typed note in her place, telling me to come here. Typed, Lalna. Care to explain?"

Lalna's face blanched. "You got a note telling you to come here? Let me guess- alone and empty handed?"

"Well of course you would know what the note said, you wrote the damn thing!"

"No, I didn't," Lalna's voice was weak. "Rythian, I got a note like that too, let me up so I can show you,"

Rythian narrowed his eyes. "Why should I believe you? You might try to attack me when you get up,"

"Rythian, does it look like I have any weapons? And if I intended to fight you, wouldn't I have brought my armor?" Rythian was silent. "Exactly. Now let me up," the mage complied, and Lalna dusted himself off as he stood.

"Where you here?"

"Same as you, something was stolen from me,"

"You don't care about that kind of thing, though. You always just replace whatever you lose,"

A moment passed before Lalna answered. "This particular thing is special to me. I'd prefer not to live without it, and I doubt I'll be able to find another one just like it," he answered carefully. "Now, I think we have to go inside this shack. At least, that's what my map says,"

"There's no way we'd both fit," Rythian observed, studying the crudely built house. It was barely bigger than Nilesy's pool store. The entire thing looked able to hold one person, and perhaps a well-placed block. There were no windows, and an iron door was the only entrance. Lalna and Rythian looked at each other, then back at the shack.

"After you, friend," Lalna said hurriedly, taking a large step backwards. Rythian sighed behind his mask and closed his eyes. There was a button next to the door, which Rythian pressed. The door swung open outwards with an eerie creak. Inside the shack were two things- a chest, and a sign hung above it.

"I'd take these to continue, if I were you," Lalna read the sign. Rythian stepped forward into the small one-by-one space in front of the chest. The second both feet had crossed the threshold, the door behind him slammed shut. Rythian steeled himself and opened the chest.

The next sensation he became aware of was falling, and then a dull pain. The drop had knocked the wind out of him, and a Rythian could only gasp and wheeze as he tried to look around the room. He looked up just in time to see an obsidian block slide back into place over the hole he had fallen through. The first thing Rythian realized was that the entire room was made out of obsidian, with a solitary piece of glowstone lighting it up. It was larger than the room Rythian had descended from, but still snug, only six blocks by six. The second thing Rythian realized was that there were others in the room with him.

"Zoey!" He cried, scrambling over to the chair she was tied to. Tears ran down her cheeks, smearing the carefully-applied war paint. She was terrified, but there were no words to describe the joy in her eyes when she looked up and saw Rythian. He untied her from the chair, undid the gag that was in her mouth, and wrapped her in a hug.


	16. Broken Friendships, Broken Legs

"Rythian, you're here!" Zoey sobbed. "Rythian, I'm so scared, I don't know what's going on . . . Help me untie the others," she said, starting to work on the knots binging the person nearest her. One look at the helmet, and Rythian recognized Honeydew. Rythian and Zoey went in a circle, freeing each person trapped down in the obsidian room with them. One by one, Honeydew, Nilesy, Sips and Toby, with Teep drugged and unconscious on the floor. Toby and Zoey were crying and Nilesy and Honeydew were shocked silent. Only Sips was vocal.

"What the hell happened? Why are you bastards here?" No one answered him. "Where am I?" He questioned, again with no response. "Where is Sjin?" He asked quietly.

A hole opened in the roof above, and Lalna fell through. He hit the ground hard and rolled to a stop at the feet of Nilesy, who helped him up. Toby and Zoey had both stopped crying, and Zoey was determined to figure out what had happened.

"First, we need to figure out where the others are. Rythian, why did you show up?"

"To save you and Teep," He answered immediately, secretly impressed he had remembered to mention Teep.

"Alright, if Rythian came to save me, and I'm here, then there must be others coming for the rest of you," Zoey told the group who'd been tied up.

"When they come, they'll be trapped like the rest of us. I don't see how that helps," Nilesy remarked.

"Well, maybe with us all here, we can figure a way out. Lalna, Rythian, don't you two have picks or mining lasers or something?"

"I was told that if I brought anything, you'd get hurt. I wasn't about to chance that, even if it would've been a bluff,"

"Same," Lalna added sadly.

Zoey was still trying to be cheerful about the situation. "Oh. Well maybe the others will show up, and we can-"

"And we can _what_?" Sips cut her off. "What could the others _possibly_ do once they're here? Even if they do all show up, which I doubt, they'd be trapped just like us! And I'm sure whoever took us is just waiting for us all to be together again so they can start whatever they're going to do,"

Zoey was blinking back another round of tears, and Rythian jumped to her defense. "She was just trying to think of a way for us to get out of here! I don't see _you_ coming up with anything,"

"That's because _I_ know this is hopeless! _I_ don't think we should get our hopes up over something that _isn't going to happen_!"

"Well _I_ think you should-"

Toby cut Rythian off. "Guys, do you hear that?" Everyone was quiet, and the sound of someone yelling could be faintly heard overhead.

"_Toby_! Toby, where _are_ _you_? Rythian, if I ever get my hands on you, you're _dead_! _No one_ makes the Sapling King mad and gets away with it!"

"Martyn! I'm here! I'm alright! Don't go in the shack! _Martyn_!" Toby was pounding on the walls, but it was no use.

There was a grating noise and a shout before a flailing blond mass dropped through the ceiling and landed face down on the floor.

"Obsidian is soundproof," Rythian muttered, but stopped talking when Zoey's elbow managed to dig its way into his ribs.

"_Martyn_!" Toby cried, diving for the crumpled boy on the floor. "Are you alright?" There was no answer, and Toby shook the Sapling King's shoulders. "Martyn? Answer me!"

Martyn groaned. "I would if you'd stop shaking me," Toby released him, and Martyn smiled. When he tried to pick himself up off the ground, however, he grimaced and landed back on his chest. His arms had bruises from the way he'd landed, and there was a bloody cut on his head.

Rythian took a step forward and extended a hand to help Martyn up. "Martyn, your arms. Come here, I might be able to help heal-"

"_You_," Martyn snarled. He batted Rythian's hand away and jumped to his feet, all injuries forgotten for the moment. "Why did you do this?" He threw himself at Rythian, who, caught by surprise, was tackled to the ground. While he was taken by surprise, Rythian was still the better fighter against Martyn's size and injuries.

"What? What do you mean?" Rythian had pinned Martyn down, but that didn't stop the little king from struggling.

"You sent the letter! You took Toby! _You're_ the reason we're trapped here!"

"Martyn, if I trapped us, why would I be stuck down here too?" Martyn stopped struggling and looked Rythian dead in the eyes.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I didn't do this. I don't know who did, but I came here to save Zoey. And Teep," he added hastily.

Martyn closed his eyes and sighed. Rythian let him up, and helped him to a chair. His arms weren't broken, but they were definitely going to be sore. The gash on his head had mostly stopped bleeding. Martyn insisted it didn't hurt, but when Zoey tried to wipe away the blood, he hissed in pain.

Together they sat, talking about their situation. Rythian couldn't do any magic without his rings and materials, which were all back at the castle. Martyn was too far from his forest to control any plants to get them out. Zoey wanted to climb out, but there was an obsidian cover blocking the way everyone had come in.

No one would say it out loud, but the more time went on, the more suspicious everyone became of Lalna. Why was he here? Everyone else came to save someone, who did he come for?


	17. Ants, and Nothing More

It took some time, but after two hours or so, everyone was in the room. Lomadia, Xephos, and Sjin, each more confused and angry than the last, all showed up. By that time, everyone had given up on trying to figure out why they were there, and the room had descended into a heavy silence.

"Come now, cheer up. Why are you all so sad?" A voice pulled everyone out of their thoughts. It echoed through the confined space.

"Who's there?" Rythian cried, then crumpled to the floor. "What- what are- _augh_!" He writhed in pain, and Zoey knelt beside him.

The voice laughed. "Poor Rythian. What's wrong? Not used to so much power?" A shape began to materialize on one end of the room, and Rythian scrambled away from it.

"Stay _away_!" He yelled, then crumpled, clutching at his head. The purple and gray cloud solidified and formed a person.

Lalna gasped. "_Terra?_" He was ecstatic and terrified at the same. "Terra, you have to help us! Someone trapped us here, we can't get out!" Terra took a moment to process what Lalna had just said, then burst out laughing.

"He's kidding, right?"

Lalna frowned. "What do you mea-"

"_What are you doing to Rythian_?" Zoey screamed, looking up from the man on the floor.

"Zoey, really, I'm fine," Rythian struggled to his feet, leaning heavily on the wall. He turned and extended a shaking finger towards Terra. "_You_," he hissed. "What _are _you?"

Terra smirked. "Don't pretend like you don't know. Think, Rythian. Where have you felt this pain before?"

"But that's _impossible_!" He roared, but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than Terra.

"Is it? Is it really that hard to convince yourself that there's more than one of you?"

"But how did you find out?" Rythian was screaming now. The others looked like they wanted to help, but no one quite knew what to do. They could only look on in horrified silence.

"About you? I'll admit, I wasn't certain at first. I knew there was something not right about you the second I saw you, but the real tip off was while you were testing my fighting,"

"I don't understand," Martyn cut in. "What's wrong with Rythian? What are you?"

Instead of answering, Terra just smiled. Her eyes closed, and her face began to change. As the others watched, Terra's pointed ears shrunk and rounded, and her angled face became less elven, less _human_. Even her body, which had already been too tall for most people's comfort, became taller. When she opened her eyes, the pale gray-blue was gone, replaced with a shocking neon purple.

"A morphing spell? You've had a morphing spell this whole time?" Rythian asked, eyes wide. Then, quieter, "How powerful are you, Terra?"

"Funny, _that's _what you point out. I'd think you of all people would be more preoccupied with what I _am_, not what I _appeared_ to be," she grinned, but it was wolfish and hungry. "You should know how important what's on the inside is, Rythian," she took a step towards him, and the mage gasped and clutched at his head, sliding down the wall.

"You- why- I... _Can't_," Rythian struggled to spit out the words, and Terra giggled, moving back to her original place. Ryan gasped for air, and his grip on his head loosened.

"Can't have you getting _too_ hurt. Not just yet," She added. Without taking her eyes off Rythian, she addressed the rest of the captive audience. "I think Rythian here has been hiding something from you," she sang. "Care to tell them, Ryth, or shall I?"

He glared up at her. "Terra is part enderman," he hissed, and gasps went up around the room.

Smirking, Terra shook her head. "No, I don't think that's it. There's something else you have to tell them, but whatever could it be?" She tapped her chin and took another step towards Rythian.

"_Stop_! I'll tell them!" He said, his voice strangled. Terra smirked and stepped back once more. "I'm part enderman too," cries of outrage and shock were heard from everyone- everyone except Zoey, Terra noted. The girl must've known already. "That's why it hurts me when she comes near me. The endermen give off this power- it makes my Ender side want to take over. If she gets too close, I might not be able to control it,"

Glancing around the room, Terra noticed the others were quiet, and looked at each in turn. Zoey hadn't left Rythian's side, Martyn and Toby were clutching each other, as were Sips and Sjin. Honeydew was devastated by the loss of his supposedly elven friend, and Xephos held he and Lomadia close, keeping them quiet. Nilesy was alone in the corner, watching the scene play out with a morbid fascination.

Terra's eyes came to rest on Lalna. He was standing at one end of the room, fists clenched at his sides. The mixture of confused sadness, bitter anger, and, above all else, betrayal was so amazing it made Terra grin again.

"What's wrong, Lalna?" He shook his head. Terra rushed towards him, jaw opening impossibly wide and eyes shining purple. "_Scared?_" She shrieked.

Lalna didn't even flinch. Shaking his head, he sighed. "I'm not _scared_, Terra. I'm just confused. Why? What's the point of doing all of this?"

"You're a smart man, Lalna. What's the most obvious reason?"

"Well, the most obvious is killing us, but I don't think you're going to do that, are you?" He wasn't scared or threatening when he spoke. He sounded like a small child trying to work out a difficult school problem.

"I wouldn't? And why wouldn't I?"

"I know how analytical you are. You wouldn't go through all this effort, working with me, luring us here, just to kill us. I think that if you wanted us dead, we would've been killed a long time ago,"

Terra smiled and nodded. "You've all been . . . _Interesting_, to say the least. A spaceman, a dwarf, a forest spirit, _and _another enderhuman, all in one place? No, I would never just kill you outright. I'm going to have quite a bit of fun experimenting on all of you,"

"But _why?_"

"Why not? It's not like I have anything better to do. Besides, manipulating people is just so _easy_, it's like playing with ants," she smirked. "Except ants aren't _near_ as fun to kill,"

"Is that really it though? Murder, just for the sake of it? No purpose or reasoning behind the manipulation and lies, other than the fact that you felt a bit _bored_?"

Terra pretended to think this over for a moment. "Yeah, that about sums it up,"

"Hold on," Honeydew spoke up. "Lalna, how do you know Terra?"

"She's been working at my lab,"

"How long?" Rythian asked. He never took his eyes off Terra.

"Uh, seven months?"

"She's been with us for seven months, too!" Zoey realized.

"She came to SipsCo looking for work four months ago," Sjin added.

Honeydew spoke again. "She's been helping with the machinery at the Jaffa factory for two or three months now,"

"She's been working with us all," Rythian growled. She's been working to gain our trust, to get to know us and everything we care about. The only reason she brought Martyn, Toby, Nilesy and Lomadia here is because she didn't want any loose ends. This was all planned to the letter, wasn't it?"

"Of course," Terra replied flippantly. "And I must say, you all followed the plan nicely. Almost all of you believed everything I said, never questioning what I did in my time away from you. There were the occasional slip-ups, sure, but another story and you were completely satisfied. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed. You all seemed so smart t first, I thought at least one of you would have asked more questions, maybe trailed me when I left,"

"So that's it then?" Sips cut in. "Everything you've told us has just been one big _lie_? Needing work, the whole nice act, your old home, _everything_?"

"I wouldn't say _everything's_ been a lie. The bit about my home certainly wasn't," Terra smirked.

Rythian frowned. "But you said it was destroyed,"

"By?" Terra prompted.

Rythian thought for a moment, recalling that conversation from so long ago. "By an evil person with evil intentions,"

"Look around, Rythian! What about your situation right now would imply that I'm not evil?"

Rythian blanched. "You mean-"

"Of _course _that's what she means!" Lalna yelled. All of his anger towards Terra was coming out. "_She_ destroyed her old home, and I bet that's why she's here! So, Terra, am I right? Did you destroy the last place you were in? What about the one before that, or the one before _that_?" He paused to look Terra dead in the eyes. "How many lives are you responsible for, Terra?" He whispered.

She shook her head slowly, and was it Lalna's imagination, or was there a hint of sadness there? Terra gazed at Lalna as she spoke."More than I care to count. Each was village bigger than the last. I actually miss how simple it was, toying with a few people at a time," Lalna had been wrong. It wasn't sadness, or even regret in her eyes. It was _longing_, he realized with disgust. She _missed_ the destruction she'd caused. "Not that it hasn't been fun here, working between so many of you at once. Quite a challenge, too- and I _do_ love a good challenge,"

"You've been here for almost a year- it couldn't have taken this long for you to destroy the other places. You're not near old enough," Rythian narrowed his eyes. "Are you?"

"How observant," Terra nodded. "Of course, I'm still surprised that you're so preoccupied with what I look like. I thought you'd have learned better by now. And, to answer your question, no. I certainly don't _look _old enough to have destroyed the dozens upon dozens-" she drawled those words, enjoying the horror on the captives' faces, "-of villages currently reduced to rubble,"

"Another morphing spell?" Rythian guessed.

"Close, but not quite. How many enderman have you ever seen age?"

"I wouldn't know- I don't usually let them live long enough for me to notice that sort of thing,"

Terra chuckled, and this time it was actually sad. "I never understood that. Why _do_ you hate endermen so much, Rythian?" When there was no response, Terra tried a different approach. "You know, we're not too different, you and I,"

"I'm _nothing_ like you!" Rythian shouted.

"Oh, but aren't you? I'm no more part enderman than you are. The only reason I can do _this_-" she broke off and teleported a few feet over, "-is because I practice. While you were busy, off slaying our brethren, I was learning from them. I'm the same as you, Rythian, and yet I'm so much more. How do you think I got in here in the first place?" She grinned, but there was something almost insane about it. "I can pass through obsidian, Rythian. Pair that with all the scientific and mage training you and Lalna were _so kind _to have given me, and I'm practically invincible," Everyone turned to glare at Lalna and Rythian.


	18. Choices

**Time for a short little filler chapter just to piss you all off!**

* * *

"Now, I really should be going. I'll be back for each of you later, don't worry. By the time this is over, we're all going to have some fun, all of you and I," Terra turned to leave, and everyone stayed perfectly still, not daring to make her angry.

Everyone, that is, except for Toby. Toby, who up until that point had been tending to Martyn's wounds on the other side of the room, jumped up. "You can't leave us here!" He yelled. Terra froze mid-stride. Martyn grabbed Toby's shoulder in an attempt to get him to stop talking, but Toby shook him off.

"And why would that be?" She asked coldly, still facing away from the group.

"We have no food! And Martyn's hurt, and I'm sure Teep's bound to wake up any minute, and-" he was cut off when Terra teleported over to him, picked him up by the front of his shirt, and teleported back to her end of the room.

Toby was held at eye level with Terra, which for him meant he was several feet off the ground. Kicking and squirming, Toby was still the youngest of the bunch in Yog's Knot, and was no match for Terra's strength.

"Let me tell you something, kid. You might not recognize me, but I sure as the nether recognize you and your little forest-spirit friend over there. I want you to think back a few months. It was the middle of the night, you and your friend found someone in your forest. You two chased after them, and _you _managed to catch up and give the person a nasty blow with your sword,"

Toby became visibly paler. "That was you?"

Terra nodded. "Couldn't walk right for a really long time," She smiled again, but it was softer, and her eyes were kind. "I'm still not too happy about the whole thing, but if you apologize, I might be able to forget about it," There was a pause, and Terra gave an expectant blink before Toby started up.

"Look, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you too badly. All I knew was that someone was in the forest, and Martyn _really _didn't like the vibe he was getting off this person, almost like they were evil or something," his eyes widened when he realized what he had just called her, but he pressed on nonetheless. "Anyways, Martyn tried to stop her- or, _you_, I guess- and when he realized we were leaving the forest, he told me to go catch you. I tried, but I was holding my sword wrong, and it must've hit you in the wrong spot. I didn't mean to hurt you badly. I'm really,_ really _sorry," he repeated.

Terra took a moment to contemplate this. "You ran after a complete, possibly dangerous stranger just to keep the forest spirit boy happy and help protect his land?" Toby nodded. "And you stood up to me and told me to stay here, just because he was hurt?"

Toby glanced at Martyn briefly. "Well... Yes,"

Terra nodded and set Toby down on the ground. He looked shocked, and Martyn, who was too scared to leave his chair, looked ecstatic. "You're not going to hurt me?" He asked hopefully.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," The smile slipped from Toby's face. "I'm going to give you a choice. I know I said earlier that I would leave you all be for the time being, but I think I might have some fun experimenting on one of you now. You seem like the type to do anything for the one you love," he and Martyn both grew slightly red, "So I want you to choose who I take first. _You_," She grinned, "or _Martyn_,"

"_Me!_" was the immediate response; it took Terra a moment to realize the answer had come from both boys at once. Toby spun around to face Martyn.

"Martyn, I can't let you do that! It's my fault she's making me choose in the first place,"

"Toby, I'm stronger than you. I can handle more," Martyn was lying through his teeth and everyone there knew it, but he kept talking anyways. "Besides, you already do so much to protect me- standing up for me earlier should be proof enough of that. I think it's time for me to repay the favor,"

"All that might be true, Martyn, but she didn't leave the choice up to you," He smiled sadly before turning back to Terra. "I'm going," he said softly.

"Toby, _no_!" Martyn's voice cracked as he leaped to his feet, but he was ignored.

"How valiant," Terra murmured. She took a step towards Toby and gripped his collar, jerking sharply upwards.

"_No_!" Martyn sobbed, but Terra and Toby were already disappearing in a cloud of purple mist.


	19. Keeping Them in Line

No one knew quite how much time had gone by. It was impossible to tell in the little room. All the same, what seemed like an eternity (but must've really only been a few hours) had passed by the time Terra appeared again with Toby. She said nothing while she laid the boy on the ground and placed some food and bottles of water next to him. Much to the group's distress, she walked towards them all again, but she was only injecting something into Teep.

"Sedative. I doubt you'll want him awake in here," She explained when met with inquisitive eyes. Pocketing the syringe, she returned to her end of the room. Within a minute of her arrival, she had disappeared again.

There was a moment before all eyes turned towards the floor where Toby lay. Martyn was the first up, rushing to the boy and kneeling at his side.

"Toby? Toby, wake up," He tapped Toby's cheeks gently, then harder. "Toby, come on, you're alright, nothing too bad happened to you, you can get up now," Tears pricked Martyn's eyes, and his voice was becoming strangled. "Toby?" he asked, shaking the boys shoulders roughly.

"Toby?" Martyn whispered once more. The room was deathly silent. Then-

"I saved your lousy ass, you know," a small voice managed.

"_Toby_!" Martyn yelped. He was caught between laughing because Toby was alive, and crying because he nearly wasn't. He helped Toby up and onto one of the chairs, all of which had been pushed to a corner of the room. Toby grimaced every step of the way, and Martyn demanded Toby show where he had been hurt.

"Martyn, I'm fine, really,"

Lalna crossed the room and bent down so he and Toby were eye-to-eye. "The way you were passed out when Terra dumped you here would tell a different story," he said gently. "At least let me get a better look at your head so I can check for a concussion,"

"Lalna, really, I'm not that hurt anymore,"

"Anymore? What do you mean, '_anymore_'"?

Toby became uncomfortable. "That's not important. I'm fine now, and I'm back with you guys, so I really don't think you should worry about-"

"Toby," Lomadia cut the boy off. "Terra said she was going to experiment on us _all_. Don't you think we should be prepared for what might happen?"

He sighed. "Fine. But I'm not going into specifics. I'd just- I'd rather not," There was a slight shake to his voice when he spoke the last words, and Martyn patted his back. "There's a room right outside here. She passes through the obsidian into that room, and from there, there's a tunnel leading into a lab under Rythian's castle.

"When she said experiments, she wasn't kidding. She gave me a life stone and a minute or two to rest after each test, but I'm pretty sure that was just so I wouldn't drop dead before she finished. It was terrible. I'm- I'm just really glad I went first instead of any of you," he finished, his voice cracking.

"Toby, you're too kind for your own good, you know that?" Martyn murmured, holding the weeping boy.

"So this is it, then?" Sjin asked. Are we honestly going to just sit back and let this happen? 'Whoops, now we're the prisoners of a deranged half-monster now, but life happens'? Is this really what's going on?"

"No, there has to be some kind of way out, something we haven't thought of yet," Xephos was pacing.

"I don't think there is, though," a quiet voice spoke up from the back of the room. Everyone was surprised to turn and see Zoey had spoken, but no one was more shocked than Rythian.

"Zoey, you can't say that! What do you mean there isn't a way out?"

"Rythian, I try to be optimistic, but I'm not stupid. I know when I've been beaten. You can't look me in the eyes and expect me to believe that Terra is just going to let us go. She's holding all the cards, Rythian. She can do whatever she wants with us, and I doubt that she wants to let us go,"

"How right you are," Terra chuckled as she materialized on the other end of the room. No one was truly surprised, but that didn't mean Terra was welcome. She crossed the room is two steps, taking Zoey's chin in her hand and tilting her face upwards. Rythian grimaced and scrambled away from the pair as quickly as possible. "You're really very smart, you know. Such a shame a scientific mind was almost wasted being devoted to magic. It's a good thing Lalna got to you when he did," Zoey's eyes narrowed, and Rythian was shaking with anger because of the comment.

"Anyways," Terra continued, releasing Zoey and moving back to her place on one side of the room, "I was just stopping by to check on you all, and see how dear little Toby is coping," Toby recoiled in his seat, and Martyn moved a protective arm over him.

"Monster," Martyn hissed, just loud enough for Terra to hear.

"Why, thank you for the compliment, Martyn. Now, Toby's results from the testing were certainly interesting, but he's only human. If I'm not mistaken, Martyn, you're a forest spirit, correct?" Martyn said noting, but his glare faltered.

Terra continued talking about her tests and experiments, but Zoey and Rythian couldn't care less. Zoey had her ear pressed against the obsidian wall while Rythian shielded her from view.

"Rythian, I'm sure I heard something," She whispered.

"Zoey, you just imagined it, whatever it was. We're all down here. Besides, who talks loud enough to be heard through _obsidian_?"

Zoey said nothing, only listened closer.

"Where are you going? Don't touch that!" Some voices could be heard faintly through the walls.

"But why _not_?"

"It could be a trap! At least let me check it out first," The voices were getting closer to the shack above the obsidian prison.

Meanwhile, Terra had paused in her self-indulgent speech long enough to notice Rythian and Zoey staring intently at the ceiling.

"What's wrong, Enderborn? Finally giving up?" She smiled, but the smile faded when she heard the voices above, too.

"What are you _doing_? Don't open that!"

"But what if it's got treasure! I'm going to be the one with the treasure, and you'll just be sad in your corne- _agh!_" Someone cried, as the trapdoor slid open and dropped a body through, directly onto Terra's head. She slumped to the ground.

She didn't stand back up.

* * *

**Oh shit, mysterious strangers time. I don't know about you all, but I'm celebrating. There's one more chapter of this story plus an epilogue, and then this is _over_. Probably. I even have it all typed up, so you can expect an end to this story by this time next week.**

**Anyways, I can't even begin to explain how amazing it's been talking with some of the people who left comments on my work. I love you all _so much_, it's unreal. Special thanks to that one guest who commented "it sucks". You'll always have a special place in my heart, t the guest. **

**TLDR; Thank you love you see you when I post the finale/epilogue!**


	20. The Final Battle

When Terra regained consciousness, she was sitting in a chair, hands bound behind her. Lalna was standing over her.

"Finally awake? Certainly took long enough," He said.

Terra looked around and smiled. "Is this really your idea of trapping me? I hate to break it to you all, but ropes aren't exactly going to cut it," The second the words had left her mouth, she was out of the chair and had teleported to the other side of the room, completely free. "Now if you'll excuse me, I really should be go-" She broke off abruptly when she saw the previously-obsidian walls of the room, which were now made of bedrock.

"What's wrong, Terra? Aren't you going to teleport out?" Rythian jeered.

"I see you all were busy while I was unconscious. I have to say, I'm flattered, Rythian. Did you build these bedrock walls just for me?" She asked still looking around the room.

"We took the opportunity to reinforce the walls and release some of the more unwilling prisoners, as well as take a few . . . _precautionary_ measures from our homes," Lalna said.

"You went and got weapons? You really think you can beat me with weapons? You think you can beat me _at all_?" Terra turned to face her prisoners, and saw that while a few had left, two new faces were among them. "Who're you two?" She hissed.

"Us? Oh, no one really. I'm Strippin, this is Benji. Of course, If what Rythian has been telling us is true, and you've been trying to hurt our friends, we're your worst nightmares," The man that called himself Strippin stood from the chair he was in, and Terra felt a brief moment of fear.

When she had removed the morphing spell, Terra had grown to her true height, just under eight feet. Strippin wasn't much shorter, probably around 6'9". The only difference between the pair was that Strippin was 6'9" of muscle. He looked like he could knock out anyone in the room with one punch.

"Now Terra, we're going to give you a chance," Rythian said. "We can't let you out into the world again. It'd be too dangerous, and we don't want to help you be responsible for the deaths of any more people. What we _can _do is let you stay here, in Yog's Knot, with Lalna or me. You'd stay confined to a few rooms, allowed to help whoever you choose to stay with, but not so much so that you run the risk of sabotaging any of us,"

"So I'd be your prisoner," Terra said dryly.

"You'd be our _guest_,"

"_Right_. Your guest that's under house arrest for fear I'll kill someone. I'd be your prisoner, don't try to sugarcoat it," she sneered. "So, what now, I choose between a half-monster mage and a half-baked scientist?" Both Rythian and Lalna bristled.

"Those are the options, yes," Lalna said through gritted teeth.

"Nah, I think I'll stick with option three," Terra replied flippantly.

"And what would option three be?"

Terra grinned. "Fight like hell for a way out of here," The group in front of her had been expecting that response, and drew their weapons. Rythian held an enderbane in his grasp; Zoey had her flame ring and a red matter sword; Lalna, a mining laser; Benji had a pair of short swords; and Strippin just popped his knuckles, but there was a dagger sheathed at his side.

"You really want to do this? Is death really the best option?" Lalna asked.

"Death, or freedom," She spat.

The room was silent enough to hear a pin drop. Lalna broke the silence by firing him mining laser one at the spot Terra was standing in. She teleported away before it could hit, and appeared behind the group. She swung her arm around and connected with the side of Benji's head.

He staggered backwards, flailing the swords as he went. A sword glanced off Terra's arm, just deep enough to draw blood. She teleported again, in front of Zoey this time. She lifted the girl up by her neck, tightening her grip every second.

Benji slashed at Terra again, but she still held tight to Zoey, whose eyes were starting to close. She managed to get one arm out in front of her, and a fireball sent Terra rocketing against the other wall, releasing Zoey in the process.

Terra's clothes smoldered, but were put out when she teleported back to the group. An elbow to the side of Lalna's head sent him reeling, and Zoey wrestled the mining laser from his grasp before shattering it against the wall. Benji threw Lalna one of his short swords, but Terra was on Lalna again in a second.

She lifted him and threw him upwards, smashing the ceiling above and sending him unconscious to the floor. A crack ran through the covering on the entrance hole, and Terra realized it was just a stone slab instead of bedrock.

Rythian took Terra's moment of distraction and swung the enderbane around, drawing a long cut down her back.

She screamed in agony; the sides of the wound that could be seen beneath her clothes burnt an angry red, and purple blood poured from the wound.

Rythian held his enderbane in one hand, waiting for Terra to make the next move. Instead of facing him, she teleported behind Benji and lifted him into the air.

She launched him against the ceiling, and the crack in the stone slab grew deeper. Benji now lay unconscious with Lalna.

Strippin lunged at Terra, grabbing her arm and twisting it behind her. She hissed when he pressed her arm into the cut on her back, but one well-place kick later and Strippin had let go of Terra. She grabbed his arms and swung him against the wall.

Taking the dagger from his belt, she plunged it between his shoulder blades. He cried out and fell to the floor, but Terra was more preoccupied with the crack in the ceiling. It had widened when Strippin hit the wall.

A red matter sword stuck in the wall next to her, and Terra spun around. Zoey was standing behind her, fighting to free the sword from a crack in the wall.

Terra grabbed her arm and wrenched it off the sword. Zoey threw out her hand to shoot a fireball, but Terra hit Zoey's arm up and away from its target.

The fireball hit the ceiling, cracking the slab even more.

"Can't let you do that again," Terra snarled, clasping Zoey's hand in her own. She squeezed, and a satisfying crunch coupled with a cry from Zoey meant that her fingers were broken. She couldn't use her ring anymore.

The noise from Zoey made Rythian look up from where he was checking on Strippin. He watched as Terra grabbed Zoey's arm and spun her around into the wall, bashing her head against the bedrock. She fell, and didn't stand up again.

Only Rythian and Terra were left. Terra lunged to take Rythian's sword from him, but screamed when it touched her skin. It hadn't cut her, but the place where the flat of the blade had touched her hand blistered and burned.

"What's wrong? You aren't scared of an enderbane, are you, Terra?"

Rythian swung at Terra, cutting across her midsection and grazing her leg. She fell to her knees, and Rythian seized the opportunity. Grabbing her by the hair, he yanked her head back and laid the enderbane across her cheek.

Terra screamed, primal and furious. She teleported away from him, but not before he managed to draw a long cut from her ear to her chin. Both sides of her face were now mangled, but that didn't stop her from giving a grin when she was safely on the other end of the room.

"What?" Rythian challenged.

She began to laugh. It was demented, completely insane- the sound of a person who has shed everything that once made that person human. Rythian was unnerved, and took a challenging step forward.

As suddenly as it had started, the hysterical laughing stopped. The silence was almost worse.

"What! What is it? Rythian asked.

Terra simply smiled and pointed above him.

He looked up and saw the stone slab falling apart. Terra punched the ceiling once, and the slab finally broke, raining pieces down on Rythian and exposing the sky above.

"No!" He screamed, but it was too late. Terra had teleported out of the room.

She was gone.


	21. Over and Out

Epilogue

A week had passed since Terra had escaped. Nobody was too terribly hurt, but Lalna had a minor concussion, and Strippin would never fully heal from the knife wound on his back. Toby had no physical scars, but he knew he was not going to forget Terra's 'experiments' any time soon.

Despite all that, life in Yog's Knot went back to normal- or at least, whatever could be considered normal when a half-enderman mage, a forest spirit, a dwarf, and a spaceman lived together with the rest of the group. As far as they were concerned, receiving hollow threats from Lalna's castle daily _was _normal.

Zoey had convinced Rythian to let her take care of the nuke below the base. They both knew Lalna wasn't going to actually use the remote to detonate it, but they didn't want the remote falling into the incompetent hands of someone who _would _use it, like Sjin.

"But you're _sure _you know how to safely get rid of this thing?" Rythian fretted.

"Yes, Rythian. I already told you, I'm like 95% sure I need to cut the green wire," she said, pushing him out the front door of Blackrock. He couldn't help but note that the percentage had gone down substantially since she first proposed disarming the nuke, and the color of the wire had changed several times. "Now, get the golems and the wolves out of here. Not that they won't be safe here or anything, I just think it'd be better if you take them somewhere out of blast radius—I mean out of the area,"

Rythian's eyes widened when he heard the correction, but he let Zoey kick him out of the castle against better judgment.

Meanwhile, some hundreds of yards away, Lalna was having a minor crisis. He knew he had set the remote down just a few minutes ago, he just didn't know _where_.

Not that Lalna was planning on setting off the nuke under Rythian's base, but he didn't want the remote falling into the incompetent hands of someone who _would _use it, like Sjin. All the same, not being able to find the remote was not reassuring.

He wasn't too worried; he had probably only put the remote in a chest. Now it was just a matter of finding the right chest. He walked across the lab, skirting a table covered in vials and test tubes as he did so. He stopped to glance at them, and noticed the water in some of them start to shake. It took a moment for the sound wave to catch up.

Lalna felt his heart drop into his stomach. Activating his flying ring, he left the castle as fast as physics would allow. Once outside, he immediately turned to look at Blackrock Fortress—or rather, the place where Blackrock Fortress once stood.

All that remained of the once-impressive (even Lalna would admit the base was well built) base was a smoking crater.

Well, a smoking crater and a furious purple mage, streaking towards Lalna's castle with a red matter katar in hand.

* * *

**And we're ****_done_****! Cut, print, this is the end of ****_The Traveler_****. Huge 'thank you's to all of you readers, without you Terra would still be a simple idea bouncing around in my head. Now she's a less-than-simple idea wreaking havoc in all of yours. Now, who wants to play a game? Everyone loves games, ****_right_****? **

**A certain character from ****_The Traveler_**** left a message in this story for all of you to find. This person made sure I gave each chapter a very specific title. That's your one hint, if you're stuck just send me a message- I'm sure this character would be more than happy to answer you with another hint. **

**I love you all, thanks for reading!**

**-Straightjacket Serenade**


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